This is why people in the rest of the country resent the coasts sometimes. Perhaps this is news to you, but Chicago is the 3rd largest metropolitan area in the country and is America’s 4th busiest airport system in international passenger traffic (behind NYC, Los Angeles, and Miami). The Great Lakes industrial region (the entire area stretching from Milwaukee to Pittsburgh, a heavily urbanized area) is also one of the most densely-populated regions of the United States. A St Louis-Chicago HSR has been talked about for several years now, this isn’t something the Obama administration just cooked up. Illinois also has several mid-sized cities in-between, including the state capital, which desperately need faster connections to the Chicago and St Louis metro areas, and whose regional airports have had a decline in flights in recent years, due to cuts by UA and AA. As the de facto capital of the Midwest region, it makes sense that Chicago serves as a rail hub for the region, or at least the heavily-populated eastern half of the Midwest. If the Midwest actually had a speedy and efficient rail system, it would not only be a more practical alternative to short-distance flights (or intercity buses), but also serve as a feeder system for Chicago’s airports for longer-distance flights.

Unfortunately, this HSR proposal for Illinois is a joke, just like the Acela. Trains will not be true HSR by European and Asian standards, not by any means. California HSR *will* be true HSR. The proposal for Illinois is simply to “upgrade” existing track so that trains travel at 110mph, instead of actually building specially-designated high-speed lines, which true HSR requires. This is very pathetic. Both the Great Lakes region and the Northeast corridor got the shaft with this proposal. The Northeast, where true HSR would make the *most* sense, will be stuck with running Acela trains on conventional track, and the Midwest will soon get a carbon-copy of this retarded arrangement.

I attended the event today and the NCDOT SecTrans said the new target with this money is 2:15, which would *smoke* the drive time between RGH and CLT.

Trains from Detroit to Cleveland and the NE Corridor NOW.

I’m thrilled to see Charlotte-Raleigh faring well. The grant will also go to replace the ghastly Charlotte Amtrak station with a centralized multi-modal station (Gateway Station) that will tie in much better with the city’s transit infrastructure. North Carolina has been able to reduce travel time between the two cities from 5 to 4 hours in the past decade, and these improvements will hopefully see it fall closer to 3 (and will beat travel time by car!).

It will be an important link to an eventual HSR all the way from Atlanta to DC and NY/Bos beyond.

I am unable to find this map on the DOT website, etc. and am a little surprised at Infrastructurist that I can’t view the full-size picture from this post. (The map’s text is too hard to read in its smaller form.)

Thanks!