To the Editor:
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“Currently, Amtrak’s eight daily Chicago-Milwaukee trains pass about a mile west of (Mitchell) airport on the Soo Line Railroad’s double-tracked main line. If a platform were built and a shuttle bus established to meet all trains from Chicago, passengers originating their trips at Chicago Union Station could be inside the terminal at Mitchell in about an hour and 30 minutes. Passengers boarding at Amtrak’s popular Glenview stop could reach the check-in desk at Mitchell in about an hour and 10 minutes. Business travelers could spend the time en route working at their seats.
“This scenario assumes that no changes are made in the existing speeds or operating practices used on this line, which is signalled for a maximum passenger-train speed of 79 miles per hour.
And establishing a rail connection to Mitchell would give Chicago’s airport system an additional breather: Because the high-speed trains to Mitchell would continue on to Milwaukee proper, covering the 85 miles between downtown Chicago and downtown Milwaukee in about 45 minutes, they would eliminate some of the 36 daily flights to and from Milwaukee that now congest O’Hare’s gates and landing slots. Since the same trains would offer a Chicago-Minneapolis schedule of about three hours, they would also eliminate many of the 96 flights offered each business day between here and the Twin Cities, along with many of the 28 trips between Milwaukee and Minneapolis and the 44 daily flights between Chicago and Madison.
