ORDAirport Guide

O'Hare to Milwaukee

O'Hare to Milwaukee by Coach USA bus, by Metra plus Amtrak's 1 hour 29 minute Hiawatha, or by car. The airport's coach list names no Milwaukee service.

The glass front of the Milwaukee Intermodal Station with its white diagonal bracing and station name, where the Hiawatha train and the Coach USA bus stop.
Milwaukee Intermodal Station

Coach USA’s Airport Express bus is the direct ride from O’Hare to Milwaukee, and Coach USA says its airport shuttles run daily. The airport’s own list of regional coaches names no Milwaukee service, so the bus is easy to miss. By rail you ride the Airport Transit System, then Metra, then Amtrak’s Hiawatha for 1 hour 29 minutes.

The bus the airport doesn’t list

The airport’s regional bus list names four operators. Its only Wisconsin cities are Janesville and Madison, served by Coach USA’s Van Galder service. Coach USA’s own site lists an Airport Express, and the table below gives its Wisconsin stops.

Scheduled coaches board at the Multi-Modal Facility, and the free Airport Transit System reaches it from every terminal. Coach USA says its Airport Express leaves from bus bays 5, 6 and 7 there. The buses no longer leave from the Bus Shuttle Center or Terminal 5.

Heading to O’Hare, the bus drops off at the upper level of all four terminals. You’ll need to tell the driver your terminal or airline when you board.

Neither the airport nor Coach USA’s stop page gives a Milwaukee fare or departure time, so check Coach USA’s Airport Express schedule before you go.

Where the bus and the train stop in Wisconsin

Place Coach USA bus Amtrak Hiawatha
Downtown Milwaukee Intermodal/Amtrak Station, 433 W. St. Paul Ave., bay 9 Milwaukee Downtown station
Milwaukee Mitchell Airport Door 1 General Mitchell Airport station
Racine area Petro Station in Sturtevant, I-94 exit 333 Sturtevant station
Kenosha The Brat Stop, I-94 exit 344 Not a Hiawatha station
Waukesha Park and ride at I-94 exit 297 Not a Hiawatha station

Both stop at the same downtown station, so the bus saves you the Metra and Amtrak changes.

By rail: Metra to Union Station, then the Hiawatha

Ride the Airport Transit System to the Multi-Modal Facility. The Metra stop, O’Hare Transfer, is behind that building at its northeast corner. The North Central Service runs to Chicago Union Station on weekdays only, and Metra’s fare from O’Hare Transfer to downtown is $3.75 one way. You can buy tickets from the conductor, a vending machine or the Ventra app.

At Union Station, 255 South Clinton Street, Amtrak’s Hiawatha makes seven round trips a day, six on Sunday. Every Hiawatha train has a Quiet Car.

The airport publishes no running time for the Metra leg, so match Metra’s timetable to the Hiawatha departure you want. On weekends the North Central Service doesn’t run, and the airport’s transit page names no other rail line to Union Station. That’s why the Coach USA bus is the plan for Saturday and Sunday.

Driving yourself to Milwaukee

Rental counters sit in the Multi-Modal Facility, a free train ride from every terminal. Two off-airport companies, ACE Rent A Car on (866) 551-8267 and Routes Car Rental on (847) 671-4000, pick you up at bus bay 1 in the same building. The airport’s Rental Cars page prints a phone number for every company, and our rental car page lists the companies with counters in the building.

The airport doesn’t publish a drive time, distance or tolls for Milwaukee. Coach USA’s Sturtevant and Kenosha stops sit at exits 333 and 344 of I-94, so I-94 is the road to follow toward Milwaukee. Our driving directions page covers the airport’s own approach roads.

Sources