CHICAGO — At the corner of Randolph and State Streets, Chicagoans walk over what was supposed to be a landmark achievement in public transit — an ambitious underground “superstation” connecting downtown to both city airports. But today, it sits unused, hidden beneath the pavement, a $400 million taxpayer-funded failure that has never seen a single commuter.
Millions Spent — And Nothing Ever Opened
The superstation project began in 2006, pitched as a modern hub for express trains to O’Hare and Midway Airports. The cost at the time: $400 million, which amounts to over $635 million in today’s dollars.
But as reported by NBC Chicago, the station was never fully funded or even fully engineered. Eventually, it was shut down before completion, leaving behind a cavernous, dark space the size of a football field beneath downtown.
High Hopes, Higher Costs
Originally projected to cost between $771 million and $1.5 billion, the superstation was financed through 12-year bonds and federal loans via the Chicago Transit Authority. When the city couldn’t complete the project, those bonds were refinanced, extending the payoff period and inflating long-term interest costs.
By the Great Recession in 2010, city officials admitted they couldn’t raise enough money to complete it. A commission was formed to explore alternatives, but as Lester Crown, chairman of the group, later admitted: “There was a desire to do it, but there never was a way to accomplish it… it just didn’t seem possible.”
Elon Musk’s “Pipe Dream” Fizzled Out
In 2018, the city gave the project one last push. Elon Musk’s Boring Company proposed a futuristic fix — high-speed glass pods that could transport travelers to the airport at 150 miles per hour.
Musk promised to build the system without public funds. But as reporter David Greising told NBC5, the plan seemed more like a “pipe dream” than reality. “I never saw any evidence that there was anything serious underway,” Greising said. The proposal quietly vanished, and no mayor since has shown any intent to revisit it.
What Remains Beneath the Streets
In a 2013 visit to the abandoned superstation, Crain’s Chicago Business reporter Greg Hinz described the site as:
“An endless dark space… big high pillars, water over in the corner… and every so often, this distinct rumbling from the train upstairs. It’s absolutely wacko.”
Today, the space remains sealed off and unused, a haunting symbol of broken promises and government mismanagement. As OpenTheBooks noted, even among public projects plagued by delays and overruns, this one never even opened.
Have you walked over the abandoned superstation site in downtown Chicago? Share your thoughts or photos at ChicagoSuburbanFamily.com.
