Illinois High-Speed Rail

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Illinois High Speed Rail refers to a set of planned high speed rail lines connecting Chicago Union Station (aka the Chicago Hub Network) to various parts of the state and beyond. Two lines already offer increased speeds.

The Michigan Line, which hosts the Blue Water and Wolverine services, has a long section in Indiana and Michigan owned by Amtrak. Since Amtrak has priority on this track (and another section in Michigan) and converted it to using positive train control, they have increased speeds over those sections to 110 miles per hour (180 km/h).

The Lincoln Service between Chicago and St. Louis has been upgraded and has trains running at 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) (faster than the prior 79 miles per hour [127 km/h] limit). Service at speeds of 110 mph and higher was slated to begin in 2019. [1] On 3 May 2023, officials with Amtrak and the Illinois Department of Transportation have cleared the railroad company to set new maximum speeds for their trains through select corridors in Illinois, with some trains now allowed to reach speeds of 110 miles per hour. [2]

There has also been some talk of service from Chicago O'Hare International Airport to Rockford railway station. Studies began in 2015 to look into the construction and contracting on the project. [3]

In 2022, Amtrak received $3,000,000 in federal funds to support the final design of improvements to the concourse level of Chicago Union Station. [4] Amtrak, Illinois Department of Transportation, Metra, Chicago Department of Transportation, and Cook County will provide a 50% match. The same year, Amtrak submitted an application for $251 million in federal funding aimed at supporting several goals considered necessary by advocates for high-speed rail in the midwest. [5] [6] The Chicago DOT, Cook County, Illinois DOT, Michigan DOT and Metra are funding partners in the program. [7]

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The Acela is Amtrak's flagship passenger train service along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in the Northeastern United States between Washington, D.C., and Boston via 13 intermediate stops, including Baltimore, New York City and Philadelphia. Acela trains are the fastest in the Americas, reaching 150 miles per hour (240 km/h), but only over 49.9 miles (80.3 km) of the 457-mile (735 km) route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeast Corridor</span> Electrified railroad line in the Northeastern U.S.

The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C. in the south, with major stops in Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Newark, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. The NEC closely parallels Interstate 95 for most of its length. Carrying more than 2,200 trains a day, it is the busiest passenger rail line in the United States by ridership and service frequency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metra</span> Suburban railroad operator in the Chicago, Illinois metropolitan area, in the US

Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 stations on 11 rail lines. It is the fourth busiest commuter rail system in the United States by ridership and the largest and busiest commuter rail system outside the New York City metropolitan area. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 31,894,900, or about 163,100 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024. The estimated busiest day for Metra ridership occurred on November 4, 2016—the day of the Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series victory rally.

<i>Hiawatha Service</i> Amtrak service between Chicago, IL and Milwaukee, WI

The Hiawatha Service, or simply Hiawatha, is an 86-mile (138 km) train route operated by Amtrak on the western shore of Lake Michigan between Chicago, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. However, the name was historically applied to several different routes that extended across the Midwest and to the Pacific Ocean. As of 2007, twelve to fourteen trains ran daily between Chicago and Milwaukee, making intermediate stops in Glenview, Illinois; Sturtevant, Wisconsin; and Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. The line is partially supported by funds from the state governments of Wisconsin and Illinois. The line utilizes the CPKC Railway's C&M Subdivision and Metra's Milwaukee District North Line.

<i>Lincoln Service</i> Amtrak service between Chicago, IL and St. Louis, MO

The Lincoln Service is a 284-mile (457 km) higher-speed rail service operated by Amtrak that runs between Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. The train is a part of the Illinois Service and is partially funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation. The train uses the same route as the long-distance Texas Eagle, which continues to San Antonio and Los Angeles. A connection with the Kansas City-bound Missouri River Runner is available in St. Louis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Hub Network</span> Proposed rail lines in the Midwestern US

The Chicago Hub Network is a collection of proposed fast conventional and high-speed rail lines in the Midwestern United States including 3,000 miles (5,000 km) of track. Since the 1990s, there have been multiple proposals to build a network from Chicago to destinations such as Milwaukee, Madison, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Kansas City, St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Louisville. In addition, the rail lines from the Chicago hub would connect through to cities in Canada. Eastern routes from Chicago would also blend into the Ohio Hub network. In addition to providing better connections between Midwestern cities, the projects are intended to reduce or eliminate the operating subsidies that American passenger train routes currently require.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor</span> Proposed passenger rail project in the United States

The Southeast Corridor (SEC) is a proposed passenger rail transportation project in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States to extend high-speed passenger rail services from the current southern terminus of the Northeast Corridor in Washington, D.C.. Routes would extend south via Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia, with a spur to Norfolk in Virginia's Hampton Roads region; the mainline would continue south to Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Since the corridor was first established in 1992, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has extended it further to Atlanta, Georgia and Macon, Georgia; Greenville, South Carolina; Columbia, South Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; and Birmingham, Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metra Electric District</span> Electric commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, USA

The Metra Electric District is an electrified commuter rail line owned and operated by Metra which connects Millennium Station, in downtown Chicago, with the city's southern suburbs. As of 2018, it is the fifth busiest of Metra's 11 lines, after the BNSF, UP-NW, UP-N, and UP-W Lines with nearly 7.7 million annual riders. While Metra does not explicitly refer to any of its lines by color, the timetable accents for the Metra Electric District are printed in bright "Panama orange" to reflect the line's origins with the Illinois Central Railroad (IC) and its Panama Limited passenger train. Apart from the spots where its tracks run parallel to other main lines, it is the only Metra line running entirely on dedicated passenger tracks, with no freight trains operating anywhere on the actual route itself. The line is the only one in the Metra system with more than one station in Downtown Chicago, the only line with no stations in fare zone 4, and also has the highest number of stations (49) of any Metra line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keystone Corridor</span> Rail corridor in Pennsylvania

The Keystone Corridor is a 349-mile (562 km) railroad corridor between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that consists of two rail lines: Amtrak and SEPTA's Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg main line, which hosts SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale Line commuter rail service, and Amtrak's Keystone Service and Pennsylvanian inter-city trains; and the Norfolk Southern Pittsburgh Line. The corridor was originally the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High-speed rail in the United States</span>

Plans for high-speed rail in the United States date back to the High-Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965. Various state and federal proposals have followed. Despite being one of the world's first countries to get high-speed trains, it failed to spread. Definitions of what constitutes high-speed rail vary, including a range of speeds over 110 mph (180 km/h) and dedicated rail lines. Inter-city rail with top speeds between 90 and 125 mph is sometimes referred to in the United States as higher-speed rail.

<i>Wolverine</i> (train) Amtrak service between Chicago, Illinois, and Pontiac, Michigan

The Wolverine is a higher-speed passenger train service operated by Amtrak as part of its Michigan Services. The 304-mile (489 km) line provides three daily round-trips between Chicago and Pontiac, Michigan, via Ann Arbor and Detroit. It carries a heritage train name descended from the New York Central Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alton station (Illinois)</span>

Alton Regional Multimodal Transportation Center, also known as Alton station, is a station in Alton, Illinois, that is served by Amtrak's Lincoln Service and the Texas Eagle. The station was also a stop for the Ann Rutledge until April 2007. It is one of four Amtrak stations in the St. Louis metropolitan area; the other three are the Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center located in St. Louis, the Kirkwood station, and the Washington station.

The Ohio Hub was a high-speed railway project proposed in the 2000s decade by the Ohio Department of Transportation aimed at revitalizing passenger rail service in the Ohio region. The plan was awarded funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, but Governor John Kasich refused to use the funds for the project and the funds were reclaimed by the federal government. Passage of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act raised the possibility of new funding for a similar project.

The Northern Lights Express (NLX) project is a planned higher-speed rail service that would run 155 miles (249 km) between Minneapolis and Duluth primarily in the U.S. state of Minnesota. A portion of the proposed line would run through neighboring Wisconsin to serve Duluth's "Twin Port" of Superior. Plans are to upgrade an existing BNSF Railway freight line to allow trains to travel at up to 90 miles per hour (145 km/h). The train service is said to provide an alternative to traveling Interstate 35 between Duluth and the Twin Cities or to other destinations along the line such as the casino in Hinckley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in Chicago</span> Overview of transportation in the city of Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest city in the United States and a world transit hub. The area is served by two major airports, numerous highways, elevated/subway local train lines, and city/suburban commuter rail lines; it is the national passenger rail hub for Amtrak routes, and also the main freight rail hub of North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail speed limits in the United States</span> Overview of rail speed limits in the United States of America

Rail speed limits in the United States are regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration. Railroads also implement their own limits and enforce speed limits. Speed restrictions are based on a number of factors including curvature, signaling, track condition, and the presence of grade crossings. Like road speed limits in the United States, speed limits for tracks and trains are measured in miles per hour (mph).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan Line</span> 110-mph Amtrak and Michigan state-owned rail corridor

The Michigan Line, sometimes known as the Chicago–Detroit Line, is a higher-speed rail corridor that runs between Porter, Indiana and Dearborn, Michigan. It carries Amtrak's Blue Water and Wolverine services, as well as the occasional freight train operated by Norfolk Southern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Subdivision</span>

The Chicago Subdivision or Chicago Sub is a railroad line in Illinois that runs about 38 miles (61 km) from Chicago to Aurora and hosts Metra's BNSF Railway Line commuter service. It is operated by BNSF Railway as the easternmost part of the railroad's Northern Transcon to Seattle, Washington. This line is known as the Racetrack because it is mostly triple-tracked and supports fairly fast trains. It had been operated by a BNSF ancestor, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, which introduced high-speed Zephyr passenger trains in 1934 and ran many of them along this subdivision from Chicago to points west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C&M Subdivision</span> Railway line in Wisconsin and Illinois

The Chicago and Milwaukee Subdivision is a 85.5-mile (137.6 km) railway line running between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is mostly dispatched by Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited from a CP Rail facility in Minneapolis. From Pacific Junction to Chicago Union Station, it is dispatched by Metra's Consolidated Control Facility. The C&M Subdivision is the primary of CPKC's two northern routes from Chicago. The Union Pacific Railroad operates its Milwaukee Subdivision, a former Chicago & Northwestern Railway line, parallel to the C&M.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Higher-speed rail</span> Type of railway with speeds approaching but less than that of true high speed rail

Higher-speed rail (HrSR), also known as high-performance rail, higher-performance rail, semi-high-speed rail or almost-high-speed rail, is the jargon used to describe inter-city passenger rail services that have top speeds of more than conventional rail but are not high enough to be called high-speed rail services. The term is also used by planners to identify the incremental rail improvements to increase train speeds and reduce travel time as alternatives to larger efforts to create or expand the high-speed rail networks.

References

  1. "$2 billion Illinois rail project falls behind high-speed targets". wqad.com. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  2. James Neveau (3 May 2023). "Amtrak Cleared to Run Trains at 110 MPH on Routes Between Chicago, St. Louis". NBC Chicago .
  3. Guse, Clayton. "Illinois moving forward with high-speed rail project from O'Hare to Chicago and beyond". Timeout.com. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  4. "Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program FY2021 Selections | FRA". railroads.dot.gov. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  5. "A unified push to revamp Union Station: Today's Juice". link.chicagobusiness.com. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  6. Amtrak. "Chicago Access/Michigan East Program".
  7. https://www.idothsr.org/ [ bare URL ]