This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 22, 2011 - WASHINGTON - The St. Louis to Chicago high-speed rail link picked up steam on Tuesday when Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced a $685 million agreement to start the next phase of what he hopes will become the nation's pre-eminent fast line.
The federal money, along with $42 million pledged by Illinois in state capital funding, will allow work to start on April 5 on the second leg of the project, which will involve construction of new rail track using concrete ties between Alton and the Mississippi River, as well as new track and a modernized signal system between Lincoln and Dwight.
That new construction follows the initial phase of the line, which started in September, to upgrade tracks on a 90-mile stretch between Alton and Lincoln. The high-speed rail project on the 284-mile corridor eventually is expected to create about 6,200 direct and indirect jobs, Quinn said.
The governor made the announcement Tuesday at a Chicago rail yard along with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and officials from the Union Pacific Railroad, which will carry out much of the rail work, hiring members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way and Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen under their national contracts with the railroad.
Durbin said the economic boost from the rail construction already is being felt in the Alton area and eventually will be felt elsewhere in Illinois. "High-speed rail is more than just an alternative mode of travel -- it is a shot in the arm to today's recovering economy, and an investment in infrastructure that will serve us for generations to come," he said.
The first trains traveling at 110 mph on the Chicago-to-St. Louis line are expected to start initial runs between Dwight and Pontiac as early as next year. Upgrades to the entire Dwight-to-Alton segment of the corridor are expected to be complete by 2014.
Illinois' transportation department (IDOT) is also conducting a study on the feasibility of bringing 220-mph rail service to the high-speed corridor. "We will see the returns on our efforts to develop the Chicago-to-St. Louis high-speed corridor for years to come," said Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig.
IDOT started an initial environmental impact study in December to examine the potential for a second set of tracks between Chicago and St. Louis, as well as to identify the best route for trains between Chicago and Joliet. Another component is an analysis of the best path of the high-speed line through Springfield, where some residents have complained about the increasing number of trains passing through the downtown area. The IDOT environmental impact study is expected to be completed in 2012.
Quinn said that construction of the entire St. Louis-to-Chicago line might ultimately create and retain 24,000 direct and indirect jobs throughout the state. Illinois was the first state to break ground under the federal initiative to develop a Midwest high-speed rail network, and Quinn told reporters last week that "we want to make this corridor the pre-eminent one in America." He quipped, "We want to get Cubs fans down to Busch Stadium faster so they can see better results than they've seen in recent years."
Last year, a White House official traveled to St. Louis to announce the initial stimulus money for the St. Louis to Chicago high-speed rail corridor, as well as another $31 million to upgrade passenger rail service between St. Louis and Kansas City. The long-term plan is for trains to reach speeds of up to 110 mph from Chicago to St. Louis to Kansas City, with as many as eight daily round trips between St. Louis and Chicago, with travel time of about four hours -- an hour and a half faster than current rail service.
"With Chicago as its hub, the Midwest high-speed rail network will create an estimated $23.1 billion in economic activity and create 6,000 jobs over the next ten years," Durbin said. Quinn said the agreement announced Tuesday "marks another major step towards making high-speed rail a reality in Illinois."
In a statement, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo said "the construction made possible by the agreement announced today will help Illinois achieve a robust 21st Century transportation network that promotes economic growth and helps meet the region's future mobility needs."