^^ Funny you should mention that, Centropolis, as Alton is trying to do exactly this with their new station. Amtrak crawls across the industrial flats, so it is indeed more time-effective for St. Louisans to drive to Alton and catch a train to Chicago.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Busy Bee
Costs are without doubt higher for underpass construction, but does anyone know about what the cost difference would be for a "European style" underpass to connect the tracks?
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Very little.
The Northstar Corridor in MN included an underpass at the Fridley station,
cost $1.5M in 2008. This includes some nice
interior finishes.
The overpass at the Troy station costs
$1.6M in 2012.
If you're looking at life-cycle costing, the underpass is far cheaper because you don't need elevators. A typical underpass is 10'-12' below the tracks, which can be accessed with simple stairs and a ramp. A typical overpass needs to be 20'-22' above the tracks, which pretty much requires an elevator (two actually). The underpass might require a pump to keep from flooding, but this is less of a maintenance burden than a pair of elevators.