Illinois Amtrak Service

Re: time driving vs train

A couple of observations: the section from Alton to STL while not high speed, has also been upgraded and rebuilt including the Wood River tower area so speeds are now higher and congestion/delays much lower. In Chicago, you still have several diamond crossing that can hold you up, but if you have ever hit Chicagoland at rush hour on I-55, you know that driving delays can also be a real pain in the A## and add an extra hour to the trip.

So give the train a try and I think you will be pleasantly surprised and IDOT, keep working to squeeze more time out of the schedule please.

ryanwc wrote: ↑Fri Jun 23, 2023 11:17 pm You're just bs-ing. I drove on Route 66. It had friggin' stoplights. You got lunch in Pontiac at the McDonald's because you had to stop there anyway.

Yes, Mr. Ryan, "Historic Route 66" does have stoplights, but at one time, it had full-service restaurants. I remember one in partricular; Streids; located on the bypass around Bloomington.

Otherwise, I guess driving Route 66 are either those hoping for a glimpse of the E-7's "scorching ballast" and its ex-B&O (the C&A was a B&O controlled property) "hand me down" consist (Coach, Diner, Parlor Obs) of the Abraham Lincoln, or those whose hobby is to drive the various US Highways, such as 1, 12,20, and 66, that remain intact. Otherwise, the Chi-Stl traffic moves on parallel I-55 with its posted 70mph and a Mickey D at every other interchange.

If you drive 70 on I-55 you're creating a traffic jam. It moves at 75-82 on most days...

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Again, this is just not true. I tend drive 72 or so. I've driven on I-55 in the last few months. I wasn't the slowest car on the road by any means. And most trucks drive about 70 because they can't afford to get tickets and see their licenses suspended. So even in states less respectful of the law than Illinois, trucks set a standard that it's tough to just blow by. On our recent trip to North Carolina, 70 was as common as 82.

People shouldn't assert as fact things that are really just what they think is probably true and happen to coincide with their interests. It's a big part of what's wrong with this country that people get away with this sort of assertion.

Believe what you will. 70 is the posted rural limit now, and the police generally do not bother anyone at 5-8 over said limit.

And that's the speed traffic moves on I-55. Been driving it regularly between Chicago and Oklahoma for the past four years.

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Maybe you're speaking mostly of places like Missouri and Oklahoma.

The most recent National Traffic Speed Survey had mean limited access highway speed at 70.5 and median at 70.8 *at free-flow*, that is, when traffic levels are not impeding drivers from choosing their speed. Illinois has always lagged national speed averages. The rural speed limit has been the same here for nearly a decade. If you're trying to characterize Illinois, you're simply wrong.

Can we move along here? Thanks.

I for one would advocate that I-55 get a pair of tracks from Chicago to St. Louis for express service.

I'm sure UP would love a third track, but the problem isn't in the long stretches of nothing. It's the diamonds in Chicago and Joliet that need to be eliminated.

The low hanging fruit has already been picked. Throwing more track at this doesn't solve what three or four flyover projects could.

And trust me... there's no mistaking I-55 in IL for I-44 OK or MO. Those states find the money to maintain their highways. IL won't ever be able to make that a priority absent changes to long standing Federal laws preventing tolling on existing interstates.

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Messrs. Olesen and Wolf, the most expedient way to ensure CHI-STL HSR, as well as accommodate the UP's needs to serve Elwood (letting Uncle Warren know "there's another "Uncle" in town and doesn't "own" those facilities) would have been to restore the double track the GM&O had until one day during '69, they chopped one main up.

At the time, such was probably the correct decision; RPSA70 had yet to be enacted (it probably was somewhere in some committee), the industry was in "death throes" following the PC bankruptcy, and there was only one way intercity passenger trains were going outside of the Corridor.

It still could be done; to my best knowledge the ROW has not been encroached upon. However, such a rebuild likely would result in ten more years of "busteetutions" and other assorted disruptions.

Finally, the only real solution to the Southwest Chicago congestion, including the GM&O/B&OCT Stop and Proceed, would be a passenger only "flyover", which I believe was called for within the CREATE consultants report. True, the Utah Transportation Authority somehow "wangled" the loot to build such over the SP/UP yards at Ogden, but such largesse is the exception and not the rule

Definitely in agreement with what eolesen said about the impact of flyovers north of Joliet vs. additional track south. Or possibly the plan to move (chicago-hub-t175584.html?view=unread#unread) Chicago-Joliet to the Rock Island once it's been streamlined under CREATE. Though I don't know enough about that option and would be interested in what others think about how well that would work.

Finally and back on the rails, my present '18 auto was on an "X-Country Auto Train" Portland to Elwood on the BNSF (salesman showed me the shipping docs; "you're ex-railroad so you can translate them; no other customer could"). Incidentally, it also has had one recognized AT journey on #52(the day Kobe Bryant was killed).

The new schedules started yesterday. Good to see! Took way too long to get here. Does anyone compile stats on arrival times, mins late/early at all stations? Surely Amtrak does, but is it public?
I see in the Amtrak app the 305 was
5 mins early at SPI
15 mins early at CRV
3 mins early at ALN
12 mins early at SLT
35 mins faster than the schedule.

The other CHI_STL didn't do as well
301 1hr49mins late at STL
319 43mins late to STL
307 15 mins late to STL

STL_CHI did well
300 6 mins early to ALN
300 8 mins early to JOL
300 2 mins early to CHI
302 8 mins late at CHI
318 14 mins early at CHI
306 3 mins early at CHI

quincunx wrote: ↑Tue Jun 27, 2023 7:32 am The new schedules started yesterday. Good to see! Took way too long to get here. Does anyone compile stats on arrival times, mins late/early at all stations? Surely Amtrak does, but is it public?
I see in the Amtrak app the 305 was
5 mins early at SPI
15 mins early at CRV
3 mins early at ALN
12 mins early at SLT
35 mins faster than the schedule.

It was never 35 minutes faster than schedule , you don't add the station times together.Even though i see what you mean if it waited for scheduled departure time at each station, that is the sum of the total journey. But i don't think it would arrive in SLT 35 minutes early if allowed to leave intermediate stations ahead of schedule.