Busier than Midway | Bigger than Jumbo Jets | Less Space | Total Connectivity

Already, more people board trains at Union Station than airplanes at Midway Airport. Adding high-speed rail could make it busier than O'Hare Airport.

In 2010, 15 million passengers boarded Metra trains, another 1.2 million used Amtrak. Midway had 8.9 million enplanements that year.

Ongoing improvements to Amtrak service from Chicago have resulted in dramatic ridership growth, pushing traffic at Union Station higher every year. An increase from three to five daily trains between Chicago and St. Louis, for example, resulted in an astounding 207% jump in ridership on that corridor between 2006 and 2010. Other improvements to three Amtrak lines are currently underway and are expected to boost ridership further. Making similar investments to all of Amtrak's Midwest routes would add even more riders.

And yet these dramatic gains are relatively modest compared with the passenger traffic that 220-mph bullet trains could bring to downtown Chicago. Four trains per hour (and up to 40 trains per hour during peak travel times) originating from Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland/Detroit, and St. Louis – each potentially carrying up to 1,100 passengers – could add 8 million additional boardings to the station. This would give Union Station the clear lead over Midway for long distance trips. Including Metra riders, Union Station would beat O'Hare for total boardings.

It is clear that Union Station is a critical component of Chicago's economy.