Chicago - St. Louis HSR High Speed Rail

[Jeff Smith]

This proposal has been talked about in myriad topics (Illinois Amtrak Service for one, but I thought I'd create a separate topic for true HSR. I came across this article: Fox2Now.com

Illinois lawmaker wants ‘two and a half’ hour rail service from Chicago to St. Louis

ST. LOUIS – An Illinois lawmaker makes his case for a faster high-speed rail service between Chicago and St. Louis, specifically a route that could cut most commutes by car or train almost in half.

Illinois U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Cook County) recently authored an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune in which he proposed the thought of a “two and a half” hour rail service between St. Louis and the Windy City.

Quigley’s remarks come nearly a year after AMTRAK increased its maximum speeds on its St. Louis-Chicago route to 110 mph. AMTRAK officials say the route currently takes around five hours.
...

Also, I found this Record of Decision from 1999-2003 study which doesn't go above 110 mph: PDF

[John_Perkowski]

No bucks, no Buck Rodgers.

[eolesen]

You're more likely to see separate White Sox and Bears publicly funded stadiums than you will High-Speed Rail between Chicago and St Louis....

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[ryanwc]

This makes no sense without fixing the South Side Swamp. As the high-speed backbone of a functioning network with efficient connections to Michigan and the east, it’s still only a maybe. But as a stand-alone it’s ridiculous.

[Tadman]

This makes no sense without fixing the South Side Swamp. As the high-speed backbone of a functioning network with efficient connections to Michigan and the east, it’s still only a maybe. But as a stand-alone it’s ridiculous.

Agree. If they would (a) fix the south side to the point where trains could run 80mph from Joliet to 21st street and (b) give the Texas Eagle slot to a corridor train northbound, and (c) ensure general timliness of the 79/110mph trains that they run now, youd have a winner.

But currently the mid-morning train out is often late coming from LA and Texas and becomes the mid-afternoon train, so that's a huge strike against the corridor.

[NH2060]

Didn’t Illinois just spend over $1 billion from 2006-2012 to upgrade most of the existing tracks that are still not 100% green lit for 110mph operation? Along with a planned re-routing through Springfield that is still in the design stage?

Why even bother with *this* endeavor..

[ryanwc]

No. It’s 110 mph. I’m on the train, cruising past interstate traffic as you type.