Illinois, Amtrak, UP agree on HSR project

December 27, 2010

Some $1.1 billion in federal grants for high-speed rail between Chicago and St. Louis are about to flow to the State of Illinois after the Illinois DOT, Amtrak and Union Pacific reached an agreement on how to accommodate freight and passenger trains on the affected track, reports the Springfield State Journal-Register.

The Illinois DOT predicts that when the high-speed rail line is completed in 2014, the passenger train trip between Chicago and St. Louis will be 4 hours, 10 minutes — about a 30 percent reduction in the current passenger-train time and faster than an automobile traveling non-stop at the legal speed limit. Passenger-train speeds are projected to be 110 mph.