IDOT gets funding for high-speed rail
January 4, 2012 / Updated June 26, 2023
News
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today awarded more than $186 million to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) for a high-speed rail project.
The project will extend construction of the corridor north to Joliet, allowing for 110-mph service along nearly 70 percent of the route. Construction is already under way on the Chicago – St. Louis corridor, and work on the extension to Joliet will begin this spring. Once construction is complete, travelers can expect reductions of more than an hour in trip time, with improved on-time performance as well. Ridership has grown 137 percent over the last five years. The state has plans to add more frequent trips, and further reduce trip times on this popular route in the future.
The corridor will also benefit from next-generation American-made trains, funded as part of a previously announced $782 million grant that will pump new life into domestic manufacturing. States will purchase 33 quick-acceleration locomotives and 120 bi-level passenger cars to operate in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, California, Washington and Oregon.
Illinois is among 32 states throughout the U.S. and the District of Columbia that are laying the foundation for high-speed rail corridors that will link Americans with faster and more energy-efficient travel options. To date, the U.S. Department of Transportation has invested $10.1 billion to put American communities on track towards new and expanded rail access and improved reliability, speed and frequency of existing service.
Keith Brewer’s HO Wichita Falls Division, Fort Worth & Denver Rwy. is not just the culmination of years of research of his hometown railroad but the backstory after he took up model railroading. It wasn’t until several years after leaving Bowie, TX, that he understood the importance of the FW&D beyond its everyday whistles. Today Brewer's point-to-point 14x20 layout, a scaled down version of a much larger pike in another home, pays homage to the freight business. Short main line trains haul cattle, grain, gravel and agricultural products along the route from Fort Worth, Decatur, Bowie, Henrietta and Wichita Falls, TX. The action is heavy but eases when the crew breaks midway through an operating session. A tasty cobbler, cake or banana pudding is just the right recipe for fun.
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