Windy City LSA
Service Attendant
My apologies if this is old news.
Posted: Sunday, 13 August 2006 7:50AM
New Amtrak Station To Open Monday
Bob Roberts Reporting
CHICAGO (WBBM) -- Amtrak's Hiawatha service linking Chicago and Milwaukee begins serving a new station in the Racine suburb of Sturtevant Monday - and more improvements are in store.
WBBM's Bob Roberts reports the new Sturtevant station, on State Route 20, is one mile north of the dilapidated 105-year-old ex-Milwaukee Road structure it replaces. In addition to the new waiting room, there is a covered overhead walkway between platforms and a new commuter parking lot, which is free for now but eventually will cost riders $2 a day.
Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) Passenger Rail Manager Randy Wade said now that the Sturtevant station is open, renovation will begin in Milwaukee.
Groundbreaking also takes place Monday on the $15.2 million expansion of the Amtrak Milwaukee station, which will take approximately one year, and is designed to transform the bunker-like depot into an airy gateway for both Amtrak and Greyhound riders, with connections to local transit and space for retail stores, offices and restaurants.
The current concrete façade will be replaced by a three-story glass atrium entrance.
“When it is completed, we'll have new stations in downtown Milwaukee, Sturtevant, and we have a very nice station at (Milwaukee Mitchell International) Airport,” he said. “So it's basically three new stations in Wisconsin serving the Hiawatha service.”
Metra recently rebuilt the only Illinois station on the line outside Chicago, in Glenview.
The renovated Milwaukee terminal is also designed for use by Metra commuter trains, should service be extended north from Kenosha.
Wade said discussions continue on the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee project, which would utilize a different line, Union Pacific R.R. freight trackage last used by passenger trains in 1971 when owned by the Chicago & North Western Ry., which the UP absorbed in 1995.
Amtrak Hiawatha service trains carried more than 544,000 riders in 2005, a 15.8 percent increase over 20004. This year, Wade said, ridership has eclipsed 2005 records with each succeeding month, and said WisDOT anticipates spiraling gasoline prices to drive ridership even higher.
Contents of this site are Copyright © 2006 by WBBM
Posted: Sunday, 13 August 2006 7:50AM
New Amtrak Station To Open Monday
Bob Roberts Reporting
CHICAGO (WBBM) -- Amtrak's Hiawatha service linking Chicago and Milwaukee begins serving a new station in the Racine suburb of Sturtevant Monday - and more improvements are in store.
WBBM's Bob Roberts reports the new Sturtevant station, on State Route 20, is one mile north of the dilapidated 105-year-old ex-Milwaukee Road structure it replaces. In addition to the new waiting room, there is a covered overhead walkway between platforms and a new commuter parking lot, which is free for now but eventually will cost riders $2 a day.
Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) Passenger Rail Manager Randy Wade said now that the Sturtevant station is open, renovation will begin in Milwaukee.
Groundbreaking also takes place Monday on the $15.2 million expansion of the Amtrak Milwaukee station, which will take approximately one year, and is designed to transform the bunker-like depot into an airy gateway for both Amtrak and Greyhound riders, with connections to local transit and space for retail stores, offices and restaurants.
The current concrete façade will be replaced by a three-story glass atrium entrance.
“When it is completed, we'll have new stations in downtown Milwaukee, Sturtevant, and we have a very nice station at (Milwaukee Mitchell International) Airport,” he said. “So it's basically three new stations in Wisconsin serving the Hiawatha service.”
Metra recently rebuilt the only Illinois station on the line outside Chicago, in Glenview.
The renovated Milwaukee terminal is also designed for use by Metra commuter trains, should service be extended north from Kenosha.
Wade said discussions continue on the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee project, which would utilize a different line, Union Pacific R.R. freight trackage last used by passenger trains in 1971 when owned by the Chicago & North Western Ry., which the UP absorbed in 1995.
Amtrak Hiawatha service trains carried more than 544,000 riders in 2005, a 15.8 percent increase over 20004. This year, Wade said, ridership has eclipsed 2005 records with each succeeding month, and said WisDOT anticipates spiraling gasoline prices to drive ridership even higher.
Contents of this site are Copyright © 2006 by WBBM
