Midwest High Speed Rail Association
April 12, 2014

• Chicago-St. Louis progress report
– Chicago-St. Louis
– Joliet Station
– Chicago-Rockford
– Chicago-Moline
• Locomotive and Railcar Procurement
• Other Studies
• 220 report
• CREATE Update
• Q&A

• $1.3 billion in federal grants
• More than $400 million in state matching funds
• Overall trip time reduction to 4h 25 minutes by end of 2017
• Corridor to be equipped with new locomotives and railcars beginning in 2016

• Class VI rail and concrete ties installed between just south of
Joliet to south of Alton
• Dwight-Pontiac 15-mile segment now operating at 110 mph
• 110 territory to expand in two phases: End of ’15 and end of ‘17
(30-minute travel time reductions corresponding with each completion date)
• Work in 2014-17 to concentrate on:
– 13 new sidings to add capacity
– Installation of positive train control
– Improvements at more than 200 grade crossings

• $50 million project funded by Illinois,
City of Joliet, and BNSF
• Will move Metra Rock Island Joliet stop to east of intersections with UP and BNSF
• New parking lot completed
• New Rock Island platform now in construction
• Amtrak and Metra Heritage Corridor trains to be served by center platform
• New station building to be adjacent to new Rock Island platform
• Passengers no longer will need to cross live tracks to board
• Existing historic station building will be maintained as event space
• Completion slated for late 2015

• Chicago-Rockford-Dubuque
– Protracted negotiations with CN
Railway led state to decision to move to “northern” route on UP
– Initial 59 mph, 1 daily round-trip service to begin by end of ‘15
– Service to be upgraded in ‘16
– State will continue to pursue completing route from Rockford to
Dubuque on CN
– $223 million for Chicago-Rockford to be funded entirely by state
• Chicago-Moline
– Construction on BNSF segment between Chicago and Wyanet to be completed in 2014
– State recently increased its investment from $45 to $78 million, further leveraging $177 million federal grant
– New Moline station now in design; received Tiger grant
– Segment between Wyanet and
Moline owned by Iowa Interstate
Railroad; negotiations on final upgrade scope and budget to be finished in upcoming weeks, permitting construction to begin this year
– Route will run on all new locomotives and railcars

• Railcars
– Bi-level cars being built by Nippon-Sharyo
– Now in final design
– Pilot cars coming in spring‘16
– Monthly deliveries to start late in ’16
– Goal is to equip as many corridors as possible in
Midwest with new equipment
• Locomotives
– IDOT led procurement
– Awarded to Siemens
– 21 locomotives coming
– First deliveries in ‘17

• Chicago-St. Louis Tier 2 studies:
– Chicago-Joliet: On Rock Island Corridor
– South of Springfield: UP/NS Flyover
– Granite City-St. Louis: Includes new or rehabilitated crossing over Missisippi River
– Once complete, these studies will put state in position to compete for design/construction funding
• Quad Cities-Danville feasibility study
• Additional Chicago-Champaign round-trips
• St. Charles Air Line and second connection at
Grand Crossing (part of CrossRail plan)

• Will they come?
• Consider this:
– In 2007, additional state investment in more daily round-trips— with no other improvements—led to phenomenal growth over the last seven years
• Chicago-St. Louis: Up 225%
• Chicago-Carbondale: Up 154%
• Chicago-Quincy: Up 95%
• And Chicago-Milwaukee, with NO CHANGE in schedule, up 42%
– Total ridership on state-supported trains: Up from 948,000 to more than 1.8 million
• Now imagine ridership gains with much faster travel times, reliable service, and new equipment
• And of course, we just installed WiFi on ALL Midwest trains

• Part of Governor Quinn’s vision for
Illinois
• University of Illinois study completed in 2013
• Depending on level of investment,
$23-$50 billion cost
• 8-15 million annual riders projected
• Key hurdle – funding the up-front capital cost
• State strategy
– Complete CHI-STL 110 mph upgrades
– Finish new corridors
– Provide superior service on new equipment
– Goal is for public’s embrace of improved train service to lead to demand for federal and state governments to take the “next step” toward true HSR

• 25 road/rail grade separations
• 6 passenger/freight rail grade separations
• 36 railroad projects to improve rail infrastructure and upgrade technologies
• Viaduct improvement program
• Grade crossing safety enhancements
• Rail operations and visibility improvements

Ranked by Loaded Railcars per year, 2010
1. Chicago
1,343,000 railcars
BNSF, CN, CPRS, CSXT, NS, UP
2. St. Louis
645,000 railcars
BNSF, CSXT, CN,KCS, NS , UP
4. Kansas City
478,000 railcars
BNSF, CPRS, KCS, NS, UP
5. Memphis
243,000 railcars
BNSF, CSXT, CN, NS, UP
3. New Orleans
602,000 railcars
BNSF, CN, CSXT, KCS, NS, UP
Source – U.S. DOT Freight Analysis Framework 3, 2010; includes freight originating and terminating at gateways – does not include through-freight

Completed Projects 20
Under Construction
Final Design
Environmental Review 13
9
6
Remaining Projects 22
TOTAL 70

Revised: 29-Nov-2012

Modeling efforts did not include 110 program, but…
• CREATE “preserves the footprint” for 110
• Some projects improve existing
AMTRAK service on 110 corridors
• Some projects improve crossing routes
• Example: CREATE will permit 30
Metra Southwest Service trains/day to move to LaSalle St
Station, freeing up Union Station slots for HSIPR usage

Another Example of CREATE Project
Supporting 110 MPH Program
Chicago - Detroit
• P1 – “Englewood Flyover” at right
• Main bridge spans complete
• Bridge will “fly” Metra Rock Island
District commuter rail over Norfolk-
Southern main line that also hosts
Amtrak Michigan service
• Also helps Amtrak’s other Eastern routes
• Construction began in 2012
• Expected substantial completion in
October 2014
Add P1 mockup

• Eliminated at-grade crossing of BNSF tracks at Belmont Rd. – road underpass
• Built a tunnel for pedestrians
Eliminated road/rail conflict
• Eliminated the at-grade crossing of the BNSF tracks at
Belmont Road (County Route
2) by constructing an underpass for motor vehicles.
Metra Commuter Rail and Amtrak also operate on these tracks. Belmont Road now consists of two lanes of traffic in either direction, with a tunnel for pedestrians on the west side of Belmont
Road

th
• Eliminate the at-grade crossings of the two Norfolk Southern main tracks with 130th Street and Torrence Ave.
• Existing bridge carrying two
NICTD South Shore Line commuter rail tracks over NS tracks and Torrence Ave. re-built
• Eliminate conflict between railroad and access to Ford
Plant
Will eliminate road-rail conflicts

th

th

Single Largest Funding Advancement in CREATE History
• $211 M from Gov. Quinn’s IL Jobs Now Capital Program
• $155 M from the CREATE Partner Railroads
• $10.4 M in Federal TIGER IV funding
• Will design/construct GS6 at 25 th Avenue in Bellwood/Maywood
• Upgrade 11 City Viaducts
• Will allow all railway infrastructure components of CREATE’s Belt,
Western Avenue, and East-West Corridors to be completed
 with the exception of the mega-project at 75 th St. in Chicago to reconfigure Belt Junction

Joe Shacter – Director of Public and Intermodal
Transportation
Joseph.shacter@illinois.gov