Rail in Illinois (Chicago, Springfield, Bloomington: university, live, bus)

[css9450]

Don't blame the messenger, friend. I'm don't even think our government knows where its going regarding the future of rail transportation in the US. In fact, I'm convinced they don't know.

[Smedskjaer]

But you are not the messenger, you are the writer.
People can choose to either have a hand in planning the future of the rail system, for or against, by participating in discourse in a constructive manner, or have no hand in the future, even if they participate by ridiculing others who are for it, by offering nothing constructive.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

I agree we need to plan big with this and plan now instead of shelfing this idea.

Doesnt seem like a bad idea to get thoughts and ideas on paper and get our minds working on solutions vs. complaining about the cost of fuel and gridlock




For starters it would be nice to see Illinois lead the pack on this and see our state succeed at something that is worthwhile. We all could use a bit of optimism these days.

Why not start here where transportation has been such a vital role in our regions make up over the years.

how great would it be if this HSR idea actually worked , this could be a total game changer with jobs , regional growth and some type of fix to all this dependance on all the oil in the nations we bicker with constantly.

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by chirack

The Wisconsin govener sorta changed his mind but it leaves things very unseatled there. It was to be between chi and millwakee.

Actually, the plan I read that was discussed when the predecessor to Gov. Scott 'rail and union hater' Walker was in office, Jim Doyle, was that there also would've been HSR between Milwaukee and Madison, in addition to service between Milwaukee and Chicago. That was the only plan I saw discussed, as much as it would've made sense to also have HSR connect other communities in that state(i.e. Eau Claire, La Crosse, Appleton, Stevens Point, etc.).

[BLS2753]

Originally Posted by linicx

OK, so the HSR moves at 125mph. Unless something changes the train still stops at Dwight, Pontiac, Normal, Lincoln, Springfield, Carlinville, Alton, and possibly Carbondale and Du Quoin before you ever gets to St. Louis. Most of these town are 50 miles apart.

Carbondale and DuQuoin are on an entirely different route. Such a circuitous routing would be impractical. Not to mention after getting to Carbondale, the train would then have to back track north again, about 50 miles, before proceeding west to St. Louis. The track from Carbondale to St. Louis is in disrepair, and hasn't been used in decades.

The Carbondale service from Chicago goes through Kankakee, Champaign, Mattoon, Effingham, Centralia, and DuQuion. It is not in the plans for HSR, and other than for students from U of I, EIU, and SIU, it probably wouldn't exist in it's current form.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Originally Posted by BLS2753

Carbondale and DuQuoin are on an entirely different route. Such a circuitous routing would be impractical. Not to mention after getting to Carbondale, the train would then have to back track north again, about 50 miles, before proceeding west to St. Louis. The track from Carbondale to St. Louis is in disrepair, and hasn't been used in decades.

The Carbondale service from Chicago goes through Kankakee, Champaign, Mattoon, Effingham, Centralia, and DuQuion. It is not in the plans for HSR, and other than for students from U of I, EIU, and SIU, it probably wouldn't exist in it's current form.

Just because these towns are on the line doesn't mean they will stop at each place, they could very well just blow on by.

[Smedskjaer]

The future I see for transportation in the future involves driving to a train station with your car in downtown Detroit. You load your car onto a carrier and hook it up to a charging port. The train departs for Peoria and you sit back while reading a book or catching up on office work. Six hours later, you unload your car and drive to Peoria. You have the freedom to quickly drive between the different ends of the city and even drive out to your friends in the next town over. The weekend is over and you drive back to the station and load your car for the train headed back to downtown Detroit.
On the way home, you turn onto the six lane highway and your car takes over for you, piloting the car at 110mph following less than a yard behind a large SUV headed in the same direction. The car prompts you to take over when it has turned off the highway for you and you drive the short distance back home. You pull into your garage and hook your car up to recharge overnight.

[cubssoxfan]

Anybody see the article in today's Tribune about Mayor Daley advocating for high speed rail between downtown and O'Hare? It addresses one flaw in the link, which is how do you conveniently and quickly connect to O'Hare. One already has good access to Metra at Union Station and Ogilvie Center. I also see a simpler? version of Smed's idea. Have a zip-car type of service near heavily used train stations using plug-in electric cars. This eliminates the hassles of using taxi's or buses especially in the suburbs.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Interesing -on the plan from ohare-
is this why he is involved with china so much? are they planning to invest with this venture?

One other point i heard on wgn -someone commented we actually need to work on the infrastructure that is in place and suburb to suburb along

the other puzzling fact today is how does the new budget proposal effect hsr spending. was this money already allocated.

was not sure

[Smedskjaer]

Light rail would be a boon, but few would use it. A bus system, when set up like a rapid transit rail system, with bus stops elevated to meet the door sill, in and out doors and right of way in traffic would offer more flexibility with a low investment.