Good news for the CHI-STL corridor. Illinois is investing $102 million into double tracking an additional segment of the Chicago to St. Louis corridor. Progressive Railroading: Illinois to invest $102 million in upgrades to Chicago-St. Louis line. Excerpt:
I checked the track diagrams and documents for the CHI-STL project, this would be additional double tracking, not taking credit for double tracking already funded and planned. The $186 million FY2010 HSIPR Joliet to Dwight project is to double track around 8 miles from Joliet to Elwood and add a passing siding at Braidwood. This additional state funding appears to extend the double tracking from Elwood to south of the planned passing siding for a combined double tracked segment of maybe 20+ miles, although the press release lacks such details.
The question is whether this extended double track segment along with the other improvements will be enough to allow expansion of service frequencies to at least 1 additional daily Lincoln service train. With all the Lincoln service trains running at 110 mph, not just restricted to 3 a day. If the state is putting in an additional $102 million of its own money as follow-on spending, one would hope IL would have gotten concessions before the announcement from UP for expanded service.
Gov. Quinn press release that says the same thing as the article: Governor Quinn Invests $102 Million in High-Speed Rail Upgrades on Chicago-St. Louis Line.llinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced late last week a $102 million investment from the Illinois Jobs Now! capital program to improve system performance and reliability on a key segment of the Chicago-to-St. Louis high-speed rail line.
The funds will allow the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Union Pacific Railroad to move forward with construction of a new bridge over the Kankakee River near Wilmington, as well as complete other safety and capacity enhancements along the busy corridor between Joliet and Dwight, Ill., Quinn and IDOT officials said in a press release.
The funding will pay for a second set of tracks to be built between Mazonia and Elwood, including the new bridge to accommodate the increased capacity. The work will be performed by the UP crews and managed by IDOT in 2016 and 2017.
I checked the track diagrams and documents for the CHI-STL project, this would be additional double tracking, not taking credit for double tracking already funded and planned. The $186 million FY2010 HSIPR Joliet to Dwight project is to double track around 8 miles from Joliet to Elwood and add a passing siding at Braidwood. This additional state funding appears to extend the double tracking from Elwood to south of the planned passing siding for a combined double tracked segment of maybe 20+ miles, although the press release lacks such details.
The question is whether this extended double track segment along with the other improvements will be enough to allow expansion of service frequencies to at least 1 additional daily Lincoln service train. With all the Lincoln service trains running at 110 mph, not just restricted to 3 a day. If the state is putting in an additional $102 million of its own money as follow-on spending, one would hope IL would have gotten concessions before the announcement from UP for expanded service.