Illinois High Speed Rail updates

[Centropolis]

so uh, when are the new trains coming for chicago-stl. anyone know? this project is (seemingly) annoyingly low information at this point.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

so uh, when are the new trains coming for chicago-stl. anyone know? this project is (seemingly) annoyingly low information at this point.

There is a whole website dedicated to it:
http://www.idothsr.org/

Work is supposed to be complete this year.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by emathias

There is a whole website dedicated to it:
http://www.idothsr.org/

Work is supposed to be complete this year.

the project seems to have been behind schedule for the majority of the project timeline on that site. looks like they've updated it more recently. seemed like the whole thing was floating dead in the water for a while, except for the scattered track improvements i've actually been seeing. i haven't heard anything about new locomotives/cars in a while.

[Centropolis]

looks like idot is holding an update meeting this week in alton, il, which should be helpful.

it would be nice (in a perfect world) if this whole thing were treated more like a heavy duty regional project than a piddly idot project with scattered small town meetings (instead of annual updates in st. louis/chicago or whatever) once every three years. this goes more to our national infrastructure/spending priorities than anything having to do with the state of illinois.

[Centropolis]

dumb stuff like this keeps happening:

"ROCHELLE, Ill. — Another 100 workers have lost their jobs at Nippon Sharyo’s Rochelle manufacturing plant leaving an unknown, but likely small, number of workers at the facility.

“This difficult decision is the result of ongoing technical complications with the design of one of our prototype cars that have caused significant delays in the production schedule, as well as other challenging business considerations,” Nippon Sharyo officials say in a recent statement."

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire...-nippon-latest

[Centropolis]

the whole damn order is canceled if they can't fix whatever the hell is wrong with the prototypes by september and we get no trainsets, since the 1/2 billion dollars goes back to the feds. that money isn't coming back with this administration.

[Emprise du Lion]

The Belleville News Democrat covered the Alton meeting:
http://www.bnd.com/news/local/article144297399.html

[CastleScott]

This is something I posted in the high-speed rail subject in the transportation section.

^ I went by the Siemens plant in Sacramento today and there were several tarpped over Chargers in the plant yard as well as a couple of freshly painted ones right off the assembly line (they seem to be cranking them out). Btw I've got some family members who live near Joliet and one of my cousins told me they are beginning to do a lot of track work from Joliet towards Chicago-putting down new concrete ties and new rail in several spots.

Btw it's been nice to drive by the Siemens plant lately..

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by CastleScott

This is something I posted in the high-speed rail subject in the transportation section.


Btw it's been nice to drive by the Siemens plant lately..

yeah, i have witnessed the same just outside of st. louis, including a decent amount of building demolition adjacent to tracks and grading for more gradual turns/grade. so track work is indeed progressing.

[CastleScott]

^ Ahh thanks buddy!

Here's something of interest that was in yesterdays railwayage mag:
http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/...tml?channel=41

[Centropolis]

is it done yet

[Centropolis]

idothsr.org


not sure what this means...the website isn't really up to date at all other than some photos of events...

[Centropolis]

amtrak still showing travel times of 5h 25m to 5h 40m stl-chi...bah.

[subterranean]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

amtrak still showing travel times of 5h 25m to 5h 40m stl-chi...bah.

What's it supposed to come down to?

[Emprise du Lion]

Originally Posted by subterranean

What's it supposed to come down to?

4.5 hours. So basically driving if there's light traffic.

[Randomguy34]

Originally Posted by Emprise du Lion

4.5 hours. So basically driving if there's light traffic.

4.5 hours with current fares? That's pretty competitive to drive when you have to consider parking rates

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by Emprise du Lion

4.5 hours. So basically driving if there's light traffic.

however, for those of us driving in to chicago on a friday night, this has never happened ever. 5.5-6 hours to logan square from west st. louis seems like it was pretty normal when i used to make that drive a lot. 7 hours wasn't entirely beyond the pale. leaving chicago on a sunday, yes.

[left of center]

Originally Posted by Emprise du Lion

4.5 hours. So basically driving if there's light traffic.

It becomes competitive when you consider the fact that you can drink on Amtrak. Always a plus to arrive sauced in St. Louis for a Hawks-Blues game, as opposed to tired and stressed out from driving all day

[Emprise du Lion]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

4.5 hours with current fares? That's pretty competitive to drive when you have to consider parking rates

I would assume that the fares are staying the same, or at least comparable. I'm not certain though.

I'm also not certain if the speed increase only applies to the Lincoln Service trains or the Texas Eagle trains as well.

Originally Posted by Centropolis

however, for those of us driving in to chicago on a friday night, this has never happened ever. 5.5-6 hours to logan square from west st. louis seems like it was pretty normal when i used to make that drive a lot. 7 hours wasn't entirely beyond the pale. leaving chicago on a sunday, yes.

It would depend where you're coming from and going to. I have a lot of relatives in the Metro East, and earlier this month I went from Belleville to Lakeview in Chicago in about 5 hours. I made it to the city just in time for rush hour too since I didn't leave until about noon.

I could easily see it taking 5.5 or longer depending on where in STL you're coming from though.

Originally Posted by left of center

It becomes competitive when you consider the fact that you can drink on Amtrak. Always a plus to arrive sauced in St. Louis for a Hawks-Blues game, as opposed to tired and stressed out from driving all day

You should see the train for Mardi Gras in St. Louis if you want to see sauced. The train down is a drunk mess, and the train backup is a hungover one.

[ardecila]

I've seen the new Chargers running on the Hiawatha a few times. Not sure if they're actually pulling the train, or just running as dummies for testing purposes...