The Quiet Rail Line Through River Forest Is Now at the Center of the O'Hare Flyer Debate. Where Do Things Stand?
November 5, 2026
November 5, 2026
In January 2018, the Village of River Forest sent residents a short notice. Canadian National would be running locomotives, possibly pulling empty rail cars, on its line through town "as part of their normal due diligence to ensure their rail line remains an active line." The Village added that "although not currently used, the CN line is still considered an active rail line," and that CN had said the runs were "not part of any immediate plans to use the rail line on a regular basis."
Eight years later, that same corridor between Forest and Park avenues sits at the center of the O'Hare Flyer proposal. Under the proposal, a line the Village once described as unused would carry express trains every 15 minutes for most of the day. The Village's most recent step was to hire a firm to record baseline sound levels along the corridor before anything changes.
The Village's 2018 notice gives the clearest local description of the route. The CN line enters River Forest at Madison Street between Park and Forest, runs due north to Iowa Street, then turns northwest and crosses at grade at Forest, Augusta, Keystone and Thatcher before heading through the forest preserves and over the Des Plaines River. Rail historians list the CN route as the Waukesha Subdivision.
In that notice, the Village described a track that the railroad kept legally active with occasional runs while CN had no plans for regular use. That is the starting point for everything that follows.
The O'Hare Flyer is a privately financed proposal for battery-electric express trains between O'Hare's Terminal 2 and downtown Chicago. Block Club Chicago reported when the project was announced on Aug. 25 that it would cost $2.25 billion, take 15 minutes end to end, and run on existing right-of-way owned by CSX, Canadian National and Union Pacific. At launch, the developers said they had a letter of intent with CSX and were still working with the other two railroads. The project's own FAQ still describes agreements with all three railroads as in progress.
The Forest Park Review laid out the local path as the developer described it. Trains would come along the Eisenhower Expressway "ditch," curve north over the expressway parallel to Van Buren Street between Forest and Park avenues, then continue north over Chicago Avenue, Iowa Street, Augusta Street and Thatcher Avenue before passing through Thatcher Woods toward O'Hare.
Set against the 2018 description, the change looks like this. Every figure in the right-hand column is the developer's proposal, not an approved plan.
| CN line as the Village described it in 2018 | O'Hare Flyer as proposed | |
|---|---|---|
| Regular service | None planned by CN | A train every 15 minutes |
| Hours | Occasional runs to keep the line active | 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Speed through town | Not applicable | About 80 mph |
| Equipment | Locomotives, possibly empty cars | Battery-electric trainsets |
That works out to an 18-hour service day on a line that has had no regular schedule. The opposition group S.T.O.P., short for Stop The O'Hare Passthrough, says on its site that 15-minute service in each direction would put a train past a given point about every 7½ minutes. That figure is the group's own reading of the schedule.
O'Hare Flyer LLC co-founder and CEO David Lundy described the design as an answer to the crossing question. "Most of the tracks that go from Forest Park to River Forest and then beyond are elevated," he told the Forest Park Review. "They only go to ground at Iowa Street, and so we're going to take that section where you have functionally two blocks, it's two blocks with four grade crossings, and we're going to elevate this so you'll have underpasses." He added that the raised track would sit "15 feet in the air" with sound insulation, and that continuously welded rail would eliminate the "clicking" heard with Metra and freight trains.
The Village's position came quickly. In an Aug. 26 message, Village President Cathy Adduci said River Forest had "expressed vehement opposition to it, since it would be on a train line that runs entirely through our village." On Sept. 14, the Village Board unanimously passed a resolution opposing the project. It calls on the sponsors to stop advancing the current proposal, explore other routes and provide much more information. The concerns listed in the resolution are pedestrian and vehicle safety, emergency response, traffic and crossing delays, unknown effects on Thatcher Woods wildlife, noise, vibration, infrastructure and neighborhood character.
The board then hired outside specialists in two steps. Each one follows from the gap between the line's past and the proposal:
The noise study shows the logic behind the Village's approach. A "whisper-quiet" train only means something compared with how loud the corridor is today. Trinity's 24-hour ambient readings would record sound levels along a corridor the Village described in 2018 as not in regular use, giving any later claim about added sound a local baseline to be measured against. The Village has also said it intends to oppose the proposal in any federal review that applies, including before the Surface Transportation Board.
The Village's O'Hare Flyer page posts letters supporting its position from Cook County Commissioner Maggie Trevor, the West Central Municipal Conference, Melrose Park Mayor Ronald M. Serpico and Oak Park Trustee Jim Taglia. The Forest Park Review reported that Trevor called for a full environmental assessment of the forest preserve segment.
On Oct. 3, Adduci and Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch hosted a community meeting. Wednesday Journal reported that more than 60 residents attended and raised traffic backups, noise and vibration, and the safety of children and animals. When the busy Madison Street crossing came up, Adduci said the proposal gave "None. Zero" detail on how it would be made safe. Welch urged residents to make their views known and said he wanted to hear both sides.
Forest Park is in a different position. A stop near the CTA Blue Line terminal there has come up as a concept from the developer and Forest Park's mayor. Wednesday Journal reported that the developer said no agreements had been reached and that Forest Park was the only stop under consideration. No stop has been proposed for River Forest, so the corridor would carry trains through town without serving it directly.
S.T.O.P. has paired its opposition with a request for a different airport train. In its draft Systemwide Network Plan, released Oct. 16, Metra said O'Hare "emerged as a major trip generator in each of the future scenarios" and chose its North Central Service line as the target for crosstown airport service. Wednesday Journal reported that S.T.O.P. is pushing for NCS trains every 30 minutes, all day, from Union Station as part of Regional Rail 1.0.
"Metra has planned it and priced it. All it needs now is funding."
That is S.T.O.P.'s statement. The same report noted that the Metra plan, like the Flyer, would need cooperation from freight railroads, including BNSF and Union Pacific. It belongs to a set of Metra upgrades estimated at $9 billion, with about $2.7 billion earmarked for rolling stock, track additions and signaling. The Northern Illinois Transit Agency, which began operations Sept. 1 in place of the RTA, is building its first budget for CTA, Metra and Pace. Its draft was scheduled for release Nov. 3, with a board vote in December after a formal comment period.
Neither plan is funded or approved, and the Flyer's railroad agreements are still being worked out. The project's promoters have described a horizon of about five years. A listing for an Oct. 2 developer briefing said construction could start as early as 2028.
These dates come from the S.T.O.P. events calendar and Wednesday Journal's reporting. The host agencies set their own agendas, so check with each one before you go.
The Village has said it will post updates, board actions and new information on its O'Hare Flyer page as they come in.
Gagliardo Group is based in River Forest, and we follow the O'Hare Flyer the way our neighbors do, one board meeting at a time. If you have questions about how the corridor runs past your own block, or want to talk through what this proposal means as you plan your next step, our team is glad to share what we know about River Forest.