High-speed rail*
In December, the Illinois Dept. of Transportation and Union Pacific Railroad reached an agreement on high-speed rail service between Chicago and St. Louis, triggering the release of $1.1 billion in U.S. Dept. of Transportation money. But Bruce Rushton of the State Journal-Register reports that the rail service might not always be high-speed: Union Pacific will incur no penalties if freight trains on the Chicago to St. Louis rail line interfere with passenger service. Moreover, Union Pacific “expects to dramatically increase the number of freight trains on the line” because of a new freight terminal in Joliet, Illinois.
High-speed rail sounds futuristic, but this news reinforces that, unless some decisions are made to prioritize passenger routes, it won’t be too dramatic a change. (more…)
