ORDAirport Guide

The O'Hare terminal train: Terminal 5 to Terminals 1, 2 and 3

The Airport Transit System joins Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 5 at no charge, about 10 minutes end to end. A ride from Terminal 5 ends at a TSA checkpoint.

The rails and mesh-fenced walkway of the elevated O'Hare airport train guideway beneath the terminal building.
Train guideway, Terminal 5

The Airport Transit System, or ATS, is O’Hare’s own link between Terminal 5 and Terminals 1, 2 and 3, and the ride costs nothing. You board it outside security, so a ride from Terminal 5 ends at a TSA checkpoint in the terminal you reach. The Terminal Transfer Bus keeps you on the secure side instead, and it runs for only part of the day.

Where the ATS stops

The ATS stops at Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 5 and at the Multi-Modal Facility, which the airport shortens to MMF. It names Terminal 1 as one end of the line and the MMF as the other. Terminal 2 has an ATS stop but no bus stop, so an ATS ride there ends at Checkpoint 5, the terminal’s checkpoint.

How long the ride takes

The airport says the ATS takes about 10 minutes from Terminal 1 at one end to the MMF at the other. It doesn’t give a time for a single hop, such as Terminal 5 to Terminal 3, or a wait time. At peak hours it lists service every 3 to 5 minutes, without saying which hours count as peak or how often the ATS runs otherwise.

When the ATS is your only choice

The airport lists the ATS as running 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Terminal Transfer Bus doesn’t run between 9:30 p.m. and 11:30 a.m. In those hours, the airport says anyone connecting between Terminal 5 and Terminals 1, 2 or 3 exits security, boards the ATS and is rescreened at a TSA checkpoint. The rule covers both directions.

The checkpoint at the far end has to be open. Terminal 5’s Checkpoint 10 is the only one listed open 24 hours, and the checkpoints in Terminals 1, 2 and 3 all list closings by 11 p.m. Each checkpoint’s hours are in our terminal walking guide. The ATS segments between Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 5 and the Terminal Transfer Bus’s two routes are on our connections page.

Wheelchairs and the ATS

The airport’s accessibility page says the ATS station platforms and cars are fully ADA compliant. The cars have no wheelchair position areas.

Each airline coordinates its own wheelchair assistance. The airport says that service can help you travel to or transfer between gates, so ask your airline before you fly. Our wheelchair assistance guide covers who to tell and when.

Past the terminals: Blue Line, rental cars and Metra

Chicago’s trains are the “L”, and the airport calls the Blue Line the easiest and most affordable way to reach O’Hare by public transit. The Blue Line isn’t an ATS stop. From Terminal 5, the airport says to ride the ATS to Terminal 2 or Terminal 3, then follow the Trains to City signs through the pedestrian tunnel on the Basement Level. Our Blue Line page has the fares.

The MMF stop serves the rental cars, Economy Lot F, Kiss ‘n’ Fly, the Pace buses and Metra.

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