HSR construction: Chicago to St. Louis

From Gov. Quinn's newsletter:
On July 20, Governor Quinn was joined by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin to announce that construction would begin in early September on the Chicago to St. Louis high-speed rail route. This project will support more than 900 jobs in Illinois and make Illinois the high-speed rail hub of the United States. This $98 million dollar project is federally funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Stimulus) and is part of the $8 billion allocated for high-speed rail. When completed, it is estimated that the total amount of time it takes to travel between Chicago and St. Louis will be less than four hours.

Illinois applies for cash to plan 220 mph service

Courtesy of Chicago Breaking News:

The state of Illinois has applied for $8 million in federal funds to help pay for planning regional high speed rail service.

The Midwest High Speed Rail Association on Monday said it applauded Illinois officials, including Gov. Pat Quinn, for making high speed rail a priority. The Illinois Department of Transportation applied for the grant money. The money would be used to begin designs for a 220-mph bullet train between Chicago and St. Louis.

The money would pay for the study of potential routes, the development of a business plan and an environmental review.

Rick Harnish, the executive director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, says the bullet trains "are critical to reinventing the Midwest" and meeting the region's environmental, energy and economic challenges.

National Train Day in Chicago and Amtrak's CEO

Today was National Train Day across the country and here in Chicago. A commitment from IL Gov Pat Quinn to HSR in the Midwest, flowing through Chicago, and strong attendance marked the day's event at Union Station -- see below


Meanwhile, this past Thursday, May 6th, Amtrak CEO, Joseph Boardman appeared on Fox Business to reaffirm Amtrak's role in the national transportation landscape.

CREATE: Englewood flyover construction

As many as 1,500 new jobs could be created from construction of the flyover at 63rd and State in the Englewood section Chicago. The flyover will separate Metra from Norfolk Southern tracks that carries southbound Amtrak train. The project is part of the CREATE program and was funded with $133 million in stimulus dollars. The completed flyover will eliminate the daily conflict between 78 Metra Rock Island trains and approximately 60 freight and Amtrak trains.


Below, the project is announced by Mayor Daley and Gov. Quinn reinforces the importance of rail infrastructure to Illinois' role as an inland port.

IL High-speed Rail Predicted To Get $500 M Stimulus - Develop Corridor Within 5 Years

Greg Hinz reports that Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, at a Union Station appearance with U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and Amtrak Chair Tom Carper, said Illinois expects to get at least $500 million of the $8 billion stimulus money for high speed rail. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Senator Durbin said that he and Governor Quinn would work to develop a high speed rail corridor between Chicago and St. Louis within five years. You can listen to Governor Quinn's Q&A here (Update: the beginning and towards the end of the prior link deal with rail. This link of Senator Durbin and Governor Quinn contains *Much More Rail Discussion* - listen to it first).