It happens every time.
You’re driving from the Twin Cities to Chicago for a fun weekend jaunt. You left home at 10 a.m. and made great time through Wisconsin. You’re mentally and physically ready to check into your hotel, when the traffic sharply slows, then grinds to a halt. It’s an absolute parking lot out there.
Your hopes for a speedy drive to the Windy City have died on Interstate 90 in someplace called Schaumburg. And as you watch the planes landing at nearby O’Hare airport and the Blue Line train speeding past, you think: Should we have flown?
For Minnesotans visiting Chicago, the Second City has always felt just a little too far to drive, but a little too close to fly. Now, with the introduction of the new Amtrak Borealis train route, there’s an improved third option, as well.
So which is best? Let’s do a common-sense thought experiment for traveling from downtown Minneapolis to the Chicago Loop, for a long weekend in July, via three different modes: plane, train or automobile. Ultimately, it depends on which criteria you value most — time, money, environmental impact or convenience.
Time
This is a big consideration. For driving, Google Maps estimates about 6.5 hours to complete the 409-mile trek on I-94 and I-90 — if you never stop for food, fuel and bathroom breaks. Let’s figure another hour for those. And you have to leave early, say 8 a.m. or sooner — otherwise Chicagoland’s aforementioned midafternoon rush will devour your time saved. Realistic total: 8 hours.
You would think flying is a lot faster, right? A flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Chicago O’Hare averages about 1 hour and 35 minutes (which seems slow for a 334-mile air route). But also consider the 30-minute trip to the airport, the standard advice to arrive at the airport two hours early, and a minimum of 1 hour to take the CTA train from O’Hare to your Loop hotel. If all goes well, your total time will conservatively be about 5 hours.
The new Amtrak Borealis, which debuted May 21 on the same track used by the classic Empire Builder, boasts a slimmed-down 7 hour, 24 minute travel time from St. Paul’s Union Depot to Chicago’s Union Station in the West Loop. Add in another hour for travel to and from the train stations. Total: 8.5 hours.