Using public transportation to get to the venue

skyrefuge

skyrefuge

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Feb 7, 2002
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I've seen some posts here about getting to the Pearl Room from the airport. If you're financially-constrained but not time-constrained, public transportation is actually a somewhat reasonable option.

It's a bit weird, because you have to take a train east into downtown Chicago and then transfer to a train that will take you back out west, but both airports and the venue are served directly by those trains (the Pearl Room actually makes the metalheads park in the train station's parking lot on weekends). It looks like the trip would take about 2 hours in most cases, although you might be able to time it a little better than that. And it could also give you an opportunity to take in a bit of downtown Chicago while you're here.

For details, go to http://tripsweb.rtachicago.com/ and enter "Midway CTA" or "O'hare CTA" for the Start (O'hare Airport will take a bit longer than Midway) and "Mokena Metra" for the End, and then the date/time when you're arriving.

Looks like the total one-way fare is $6.30. That compares to $44.00 for a taxi from Midway (randomly picked http://americantaxi.com/rates.asp).

And if you're a senior citizen, it'll be completely free, thanks to our moron of a governor!

Neil
 
This is VERY helpful news.

There's a train/metro (whatever) station right in Mokena... maybe 10 minutes to walk from the hotel. First train left at roughly 9 or 9:30 on Sunday and it will take you to downtown Chicago. you have to walk a few blocks to get to the next stop... you take that train and it takes you RIGHT to O'Hare (literally). So, if you're planning on flying back home on Sunday and want to take the train back to the airport, make sure you get a flight in the afternoon. I made the mistake of not planning the trip the best I could, and wound up getting stuck in O'Hare for 26 hours. The combined train ride should take you roughly 2 hours.. I can't stress it enough... get an AFTERNOON FLIGHT ON SUNDAY... 1 - 3pm.

edit: news? NEWS?! NEWS?!?!?!? gah
 
Will Bozarth said:
This is VERY helpful news.

There's a train/metro (whatever) station right in Mokena... maybe 10 minutes to walk from the hotel. First train left at roughly 9 or 9:30 on Sunday and it will take you to downtown Chicago. you have to walk a few blocks to get to the next stop... you take that train and it takes you RIGHT to O'Hare (literally). So, if you're planning on flying back home on Sunday and want to take the train back to the airport, make sure you get a flight in the afternoon. I made the mistake of not planning the trip the best I could, and wound up getting stuck in O'Hare for 26 hours. The combined train ride should take you roughly 2 hours.. I can't stress it enough... get an AFTERNOON FLIGHT ON SUNDAY... 1 - 3pm.

edit: news? NEWS?! NEWS?!?!?!? gah
Click to expand...

Once you get to the city. It is the EL Train you are looking to get on. The BLUE LINE. That is the one that will take you too the airport. Also realize that the CTA is going through HUGE repairs and upgrades with lines being slowed down and off at certain times so all you travelers...go to the CTA home page to see what is going on at that time closer to the show. Sometimes the EL can make a 20 minute train ride into an hour. Just a heads up.

Also....for anyone interested. The EL train RED line which can be taken a few more blocks away from the BLUE line takes to up north to Metal Haven. Basically take the RED line up north. About 5 stops to you get to Belmont. There is a free transfer to the BROWN line and it is a few stops from there. The train station is 2 blocks from the store. So anyone who has no plans on saturday or even early friday. you can hit the city and still make it back in time.
 
as long as you can find I-80 and la grange road, you'll get there fine!


i do admit public transportation is a bit weird getting to the fest. but hey, thats what the motel 8 is for!
 
Wow skyrefuge, I thank you greatly.

Ok, so I just put in some bullshit time+date from midway to mokena, does this sound at all correct to u powerfest natives?

Take CTA ORANGE LINE TRAIN (ORANGE LINE - CLOCKWISE)
Depart
at 08:30 AM:
MIDWAY CTA

Arrive
at 08:55 AM:
LASALLE/VAN BUREN CTA (BRN/ORN/PRP/PNK)
Transfer
walk
Walk 0.1 mile S to LA SALLE ST METRA
Take METRA ROCK ISLAND DISTRICT LINE
Depart
at 09:30 AM:
LA SALLE ST METRA
Arrive
at 10:35 AM:
MOKENA METRA




And after the train, how do I get to the venue? Is it ridiculously close to the bus/train stop?
 
Ok, thanks DIabolik. Looks like I might have to do an early run on the sunday instead of after Testament.

Whens the best time to buy flights?
 
Just to re-iterate, please make sure you check flights into
Midway, not just O'hare, as there may be a significant cost
savings (depending on where/when, etc.) and shuttle services
may be cheaper as well....obviously, it depends on your
individual situation but don't neglect taking a look into it.
 
Me and my boyfriend, are going to be travelling from England to come and see Iced Earth in particuar.. we've never been to the states, let alone chicago and we were just wondering how difficult would it be to get from Chicago airport all the way down to the festival?

Id say we'd have to get another plane after travelling from england to chicago right?

and the next question is, would it be easy for us using public transportation to get from the airport to the festival itself?

sorry to be a pain in the arse but we need to know!

thank you! :)
 
If you land in MIdway, my understanding is that you take the train that is talked about in this thread to the venue and you're set.
 
Kayleigh_metal said:
Me and my boyfriend, are going to be travelling from England to come and see Iced Earth in particuar.. we've never been to the states, let alone chicago and we were just wondering how difficult would it be to get from Chicago airport all the way down to the festival?

Id say we'd have to get another plane after travelling from england to chicago right?

and the next question is, would it be easy for us using public transportation to get from the airport to the festival itself?

sorry to be a pain in the arse but we need to know!

thank you! :)
Click to expand...

It's not really difficult from either airport, it's just a matter of time. Since you're coming from over seas you'll probably be flying into O'hare which is the farther of the two but like mentioned, you can take the blue line into the city and hop the metra out to Mokena. Two hours is a good estimate.

My suggestion, if you're already spending the kind of money you are to get out here, I'd just get a limo. If you look online you can often find deals on limos for around the same price as a taxi would cost you and it's much nicer to ride in and they help you deal with the luggage. It'll probably put you out between $45-60 but it's money well spent IMO.

BTW, my good friend Rich (goes by DRFS Rich around here) is from England so I'm sure he'd be interested in meeting you guys. Feel free to drop either of us a line if you have any questions (knowing how he is I'm sure he'd be more than willing to help ya out with any questionsO.
 
rms said:
Ok, so I just put in some bullshit time+date from midway to mokena, does this sound at all correct to u powerfest natives?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that looks good. Obviously you probably aren't going to be catching a train out of Midway at 8:30AM, but when you get closer to booking a flight, you can enter the real times.

The Trip Planner takes the real schedules into account, but if you want the full version of the Metra schedule (the outbound train), see http://metrarail.com/Sched/ri/ri.shtml Note that the weekend schedule is a lot more limited (basically one train every two hours), so if you're planning on flying out on Sunday, you want to make sure you don't miss your train that will get you there in time. The latest trains leave Mokena around 10:40PM, so it's difficult to make it work unless you're spending the nights in Mokena.

Oh, and Mokena - Hickory Creek is the stop that you want. On the map on the Hickory Creek page, the venue is just off the map, approximately where the yellow block for "Accessible Parking" is.

The CTA website (for Orange, Blue, or Red line trains) is http://www.transitchicago.com/ The CTA trains run a lot more frequently than Metra trains.

And yeah, as Chris said, everything else being equal, shoot for Midway airport over O'hare. Midway is both closer, and faster, since the CTA line (the Orange line) isn't under construction like O'hare's Blue Line is. It's a smaller airport to get through too. But if you can get a much cheaper flight to O'hare, the whole thing will work from there as well.

Jasonic said:
Shit, I wonder if I should take the Metra from Lombard to Mokena........
Click to expand...

Are you serious? Or do you not own a car? That would be pretty brutal for an in-towner, taking two Metra trains each way!

Neil
 
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