Midway to Union Station via CTA

[Devil's Advocate]

does not operate when Amtrak trains arrive at 1-2-3am in the morning

That's certainly the case in my town as well.

Taxis and Lyft/Uber are still available but connecting to/from our public transportation is often impractical or impossible and car rentals are a $50 ride away thanks to punitive taxi rates and late night surge pricing.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Two bits of airport subway trivia:

1. In the ancient annals of Chicago subway plans (of which there are, well, many many many) there was supposed to be a subway under Archer out to Midway in the 30's, if not late 20's.

In addition, there have been various plans off and on to extend the Englewood (now Ashland/63 Green Line) branch to Midway.

I for the life of me, cannot find any links to those proposals or a good map - do you have one?

 

[Trogdor]

Two bits of airport subway trivia:

1. In the ancient annals of Chicago subway plans (of which there are, well, many many many) there was supposed to be a subway under Archer out to Midway in the 30's, if not late 20's.

In addition, there have been various plans off and on to extend the Englewood (now Ashland/63 Green Line) branch to Midway.

I for the life of me, cannot find any links to those proposals or a good map - do you have one?

They aren't recent proposals, but here's one from 1958: http://www.chicago-l.org/plans/NewHorizons1958.html

Here's reference to one from 1973 of a plan for service by 1995: http://www.chicago-l.org/plans/1995plan.html

...and I found this reference from 1923: http://www.chicago-l.org/plans/1923plan.html While it doesn't reference "Midway Airport" (which didn't even exist back then, as Chicago Municipal Airport opened in 1927), it mentions an elevated line to Austin Avenue connecting to the 63rd Englewood line, so it would have effectively gone past the airport property (and it's anyone's guess if the terminal would have been built closer to 63rd if such a line had existed back then).

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

I for the life of me, cannot find any links to those proposals or a good map - do you have one?

They aren't recent proposals, but here's one from 1958: http://www.chicago-l.org/plans/NewHorizons1958.html

Here's reference to one from 1973 of a plan for service by 1995: http://www.chicago-l.org/plans/1995plan.html

...and I found this reference from 1923: http://www.chicago-l.org/plans/1923plan.html While it doesn't reference "Midway Airport" (which didn't even exist back then, as Chicago Municipal Airport opened in 1927), it mentions an elevated line to Austin Avenue connecting to the 63rd Englewood line, so it would have effectively gone past the airport property (and it's anyone's guess if the terminal would have been built closer to 63rd if such a line had existed back then).

Thanks, but what's weird is I've seen one somewhere relatively recently (obviously not under serious consideration, unfortunately) - maybe a subway site?

 

[NorthShore]

If you're connecting from Midway to an Amtrak to Bloomington, there's another option if you're running late at Midway. Amtrak trains on the Chicago-St. Louis line stop at Summit about twenty minutes after leaving Chicago Union Station. Summit is just a few miles west of Midway Airport, and a short cab ride.

For curiosity sake, I'm wondering whether this connection could be made on surface transit.

 

[RPC]

If you're connecting from Midway to an Amtrak to Bloomington, there's another option if you're running late at Midway. Amtrak trains on the Chicago-St. Louis line stop at Summit about twenty minutes after leaving Chicago Union Station. Summit is just a few miles west of Midway Airport, and a short cab ride.

For curiosity sake, I'm wondering whether this connection could be made on surface transit.

Possible, yes. Convenient, no. Bus 62H gets you within a few blocks of Summit, but it only runs during the day and infrequently then. Any other option involves multiple buses and transfers.