Chicago Ohare to Union Station

[hankster211]

Ohare to Union Station:

What's the cheapest mode of transportation and how much time should I allow?

Also, if I drive to Chicago..............what's the parking situation at Union Station?

Thanks,

Hank

 

[caravanman]

Hi,

The blue line EL rail connects direct from O Hare to Clinton station. Clinton is about 5 minutes level walk to Union station. The fare is about $2.25c. The travel time is around 1 hour approx.

Ed

 

[Trogdor]

If you are boarding at the O'Hare station, the fare is $5 unless you have a Chicago Card. If you buy a transit card from the station in O'Hare, it will cost $5.

And, as Chicagoans say, it's the "L". The "EL" is in New York.

 

[shelzp]

You can park at Union Station but it is expensive. I can't remember how much it costs but I know it is high.

 

[SarahZ]

You can park at Union Station but it is expensive. I can't remember how much it costs but I know it is high.

1st hr: $7.00

1-2 hrs: $10.00

2-3 hrs: $13.00

3-5 hrs: $16.00

5-24 hrs: $22.00

24-hr period: $22.00

 

[Bronzeman]

If you are thinking of parking near CUS for more than a day then through ParkWhiz you can get the cost of parking at the Union Station Garage down to about $14/day.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

And if you are wagging luggage with you, you will not be alone and both Blue Line and Orange Line (MDW) trains are very luggage friendly.

 

[hankster211]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Everydaymatters]

If you are boarding at the O'Hare station, the fare is $5 unless you have a Chicago Card. If you buy a transit card from the station in O'Hare, it will cost $5.
And, as Chicagoans say, it's the "L". The "EL" is in New York.

Many years ago when I was growing up in a Chicago suburb, my father took the el every day to work at the main post office in Chicago. He boarded the el in Forest Park. Everyone called it the el at that time. L seems to be a more recent tag given to the elevated trains.

 

[trainman74]

Many years ago when I was growing up in a Chicago suburb, my father took the el every day to work at the main post office in Chicago. He boarded the el in Forest Park. Everyone called it the el at that time. L seems to be a more recent tag given to the elevated trains.

Not recent at all -- the CTA and its predecessor companies have used 'L' (with single quotes) to refer to the elevated transit system since the 1890s. It's more or less a brand name (in fact, I believe the CTA has a trademark on the term).

The word "el," though, is technically correct, since it's a generic term that can be used to refer to any elevated train. But referring to "the Chicago el" would be like referring to "the London subway system" instead of "the London Underground" (or "The Tube").

 

[cirdan]

If you are boarding at the O'Hare station, the fare is $5 unless you have a Chicago Card. If you buy a transit card from the station in O'Hare, it will cost $5.
And, as Chicagoans say, it's the "L". The "EL" is in New York.

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I remember paying less than that, maybe 2$ something or 3$ something. The big pain is that the machines don't give change though, so if you don't have small coins you can easily end up paying more. There is no ticket office, only machines.

 

[MrFSS]

If you are boarding at the O'Hare station, the fare is $5 unless you have a Chicago Card. If you buy a transit card from the station in O'Hare, it will cost $5.
And, as Chicagoans say, it's the "L". The "EL" is in New York.

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I remember paying less than that, maybe 2$ something or 3$ something. The big pain is that the machines don't give change though, so if you don't have small coins you can easily end up paying more. There is no ticket office, only machines.

Look down about halfway on this web page and you will see the CTA O'Hare to Chicago fare is $5.00. They recently increased it to milk the tourists flying in and wanting to take the train downtown.

You can avoid that by buying a multi-ride pass.

LINK

 

[nanavc]

Hi Folks, I know this is an older thread but, it has to do with the O'hare to Union station thread so here's my question... My husband & I will be flying into O'hare to save time and will be taking The Empire Builder to Seattle, my hubby has a little trouble walking distances so we will take a taxi to the station. Anyone have any experience with taxi to station? Thanks

 

[SarahZ]

Hi Folks, I know this is an older thread but, it has to do with the O'hare to Union station thread so here's my question... My husband & I will be flying into O'hare to save time and will be taking The Empire Builder to Seattle, my hubby has a little trouble walking distances so we will take a taxi to the station. Anyone have any experience with taxi to station? Thanks

There's a cab stand at O'Hare that's really easy to use. Just follow the signs from your terminal. The cabs line up, and there are airport employees out there who count off groups and put them into cabs. You just line up like you would anywhere else.

The cabs charge a $2 airport fee (per trip, not per person), and then it's about $30 - $40 to get downtown, depending on traffic and such. I'd plan on $50 to account for the trip, the airport fee, and the tip, just to be safe.

You can also share a ride with strangers. If you do that, it's $24/per person.

More information here:

http://www.flychicago.com/OHare/EN/GettingToFrom/TaxiLimo/Taxi-Limousine.aspx

 

[lstone19]

You want the taxi to drop you off on Canal between Jackson and Adams. The main entrance is in the middle of the block and the escalators will bring you down to the Amtrak ticket counter and waiting area. I see a lot of taxis dropping people off on Adams or Jackson by the entrances that face the river and those are primarily used by Metra passengers walking to/from the Loop and can be very busy - even outside of rush hour (and are insane during rush hour). And for sure, do not (as I saw happen once) let the cabbie drop you off at the Madison Street entrance. That's a "steps only" entrance to the Metra north platforms and is two blocks from the station headhouse.

 

[SarahZ]

You want the taxi to drop you off on Canal between Jackson and Adams. The main entrance is in the middle of the block and the escalators will bring you down to the Amtrak ticket counter and waiting area. I see a lot of taxis dropping people off on Adams or Jackson by the entrances that face the river and those are primarily used by Metra passengers walking to/from the Loop and can be very busy - even outside of rush hour (and are insane during rush hour). And for sure, do not (as I saw happen once) let the cabbie drop you off at the Madison Street entrance. That's a "steps only" entrance to the Metra north platforms and is two blocks from the station headhouse.

Good tip. When cab drivers ask me if I want the Adams or Jackson entrance, I ask them to drop me off at "the cab stand on Canal". They'll know what you mean.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

There is also an elevator by the Canal St entrance on the right just inside the building.

 

[GG-1]

Aloha

I flew into Ohare from Honolulu arriving before sunrise. Taxi's quote was way more than I was willing to pay. This was so long ago I do not remember exact amounts. What I did, and I remember being Happy, was using a Van service.

 

[Bus Nut]

Van services are a great idea but they are under fire for forcing the drivers to take on all the economic risk (much like Uber) and they rarely get tips (since they run reimbursed business travel mostly). So be nice and tip your driver!

Personally, I would just go with the L. It is so easy to get into from the airport with luggage, they even have slidewalks in the concourse to get to the station. I decided to get off at the Thompson center which has a food court and is enclosed instead of jumping right off the train and onto the cold sidewalk with who knows what scam artist looking for marks, lol.

 

[John Bredin]

Hi Folks, I know this is an older thread but, it has to do with the O'hare to Union station thread so here's my question... My husband & I will be flying into O'hare to save time and will be taking The Empire Builder to Seattle, my hubby has a little trouble walking distances so we will take a taxi to the station. Anyone have any experience with taxi to station? Thanks

If I was going to take a taxi from O'Hare to catch the Empire Builder, I'd consider taking a taxi to Glenview, the Empire Builder's first stop outside Chicago, rather than all the way into downtown Chicago. The problem with going downtown is the Kennedy Expressway can be lightning-fast or turtle-slow at any time of day with no rhyme or reason. Glenview station would also involve less walking than Union Station.

Of course, your Amtrak reservation would have to be changed from CHI to GLN so the conductor doesn't mark you as absent. And if you're in coach, your prospects of getting good seats are better at CHI than GLN.

 

[PerRock]

There is the Metra option no one has mentioned. You can catch a shuttle bus from the ORD to the CUS (they run very regularly, and the station isn't that far away) The Metra line will take you all the way into Union Station. The fare is $5.50 once-way ($2.75 reduced). It takes about an 1.5 hours to go the length.

peter

PS: oh there are also CTA buses that will take you from ORD to Downtown. But really there are better options.

 

[nanavc]

Thank you all so much!!!

 

[abcnews]

I recently found this site while searching on this same topic... "From O'Hare to Union Station"

http://www.mrl.ucsb.edu/~yopopov/directions/ord-us.html

The writer does a good job of explaining the process, and it sounds quite easy. It's a simple step by step guide to get from O'hare to Amtrak...

[SIZE=xx-large]From O'Hare Airport to Chicago Union Station[/SIZE]

All Amtrak trains serving Chicago depart from Union Station. The best way to travel between the airport and Union Station is by the CTA rail. Trains are fast and run frequently, and the entire journey (including all waiting and walking) takes approximately 1 hour 15 minutes. Beware that private shuttles run much less frequently than CTA trains do (about once an hour compared to every 10 minutes), and so on average you are not going to save much time by taking a shuttle despite paying at least 5 times as much as the train fare. Moreover, trains run at all times, and trains do not risk getting stuck in Chicago traffic. Unless you have a lot of heavy luggage, a train ride is a more sensible option in most cases.

And there is more info here.... http://www.mrl.ucsb.edu/~yopopov/directions/ord-us.html

 

[abcnews]

BTW -we are in Chicago, we arrived on the Capital Limited today.

 

[Steve4031]

Allow at least an hour if you are taking a taxi from Ohare to union station. Don't try a same day connection.

Google maps predicts 20 minutes from Ohare to glenview amtrak.

Keep in mind that if you booked a room out of Chicago and then decide to board in glenview you might get classified as a no show. And have your reservation cancelled. They scan tickets for this train in the lounge if you are in the sleeper.