“It’s absolutely wacko,” says Greg Hinz, political writer at Crain’s.
“Somebody in power wanted it, so they did it.”

Remember the CTA’s Superstation idea?  Now, we have a vast, useless hole under Block 37 in the heart of downtown Chicago. $400Million and counting. Project scrapped.

Recently, they floated a plan to construct a second Blue Line track high above the existing track just to speed big-deal execs downtown 7 minutes faster than the regular folks down below. Now, they admit the current Blue Line already is 10 minutes faster thanks to ongoing track repair.

AND NOW, they want to spend $570Million+ on a roller coaster at Belmont to shave 20-30 seconds off the Northside Red Line commute. Want to pay for that, too?

How Chicago Spent $400 Million on a Subway Superstation to Nowhere
by Phil Rogers, NBC Chicago

Imagine a scenario where you bury a lot of your hard earned money in the yard, and never see it again. Better yet, imagine giving that money to someone else, who buries it with promises of big returns which never happen.

You’ve already done it.

The site is deep below Chicago’s famous Block 37 between State and Dearborn at Randolph. A decade ago, the Chicago Transit Authority wanted to launch non-stop train service from the Loop to O’Hare and Midway airports. But the closest the service came to reality was the shell of a mass transit “superstation” below Block 37 between the Red and Blue subway lines. The project was shelved, amid mounting costs and questions about funding and the very feasibility of the concept.