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East St. Louis may get Amtrak station
While four miles might seem to close to build another station, don’t forget about ‘park n’ ride’ or ‘parkway’ stations like those on the Northeast Corridor… South Station and Black Bay in Boston are pretty close!
Good to know Amtrak will stop in a city that has more strip bars than people with enough money to buy a train ticket
Good to know Amtrak will stop in a city that has more strip bars than people with enough money to buy a train ticket
Even if they did do this (which I doubt), Amtrak would always have to use the bridge next to I-70. Sometimes they are routed over the Merchants Bridge to the north; this misses ESL altogether.
It just does not make sense to me. The St Louis Station is right next to the new light rail system and close to the sports venues.
For many years the Wabash stopped its trains at Delmar Station in St. Louis, 5.6 miles out of Union Station per the Official Guide. For a while there was even a setout sleeper at Delmar, per Night Trains by Peter Maiken.
It makes sense to make a near suburban stop to save people the hassle of dealing with center-city driving and parking, and for some persons the mental and physical exertion of crowds and long hikes in a huge station. Three or four miles out in the country is nothing; three or four miles of concentrated city driving, dozens of stoplights, crossing major bridges, etc. can be a big deal.
Whatever it takes to make trains accessible to potential passengers, whether it makes sense to observers 1,000+ miles away or not, is worth looking into.
If the train has to make too many stops, it defeats the purpose of upgrading the tracks to the 110 mph standard. If East St. Louis is only four miles away from the main station in St. Louis, why bother stopping there, unless a vast number of new riders is likely to use the train because of it? You don’t see the Eurostar stopping four miles north of the Gare du Nord. That’s what local services, streetcars and light rail are for.
Hold on everyone. Going back to 1993 when HSR was first envisioned in IL, the ESL station was talked about. Now that we are to the implemention stage of the project, the time has come for a station to be there. The draw from the Metro East, (Collinsville, Belleville, O’Fallon and beyond) would be strong and despite it being “close” to St. Louis, there are many obtacles to get to STL. Parking still isn’t the best in and around the current new station and is frequently full and is not cheap anytime. I have lived on both sides of the river and feel it would be a HUGE benefit. It would also help revitalize the area around the proposed station, much like what the Metrolink station has done. One last thing, speeds through that last 4 miles are now and will be only be around 40 MPH. A station would only add 3-5 minutes, similar to what the dwell time is in Alton or Kirkwood now. I am very much in favor of this regional enhancement!
The Merchants bridge that Charles mentioned is almost never used, except in emergency, and is going to be replaced in a few years.
I have a difficult time believing enough people get on/off Amtrak at E. St. Louis to warrant that (and if they do…why…E. St. Louis is one of the worst cities in the Midwest for crime I know of). also Les Coburn is right on his comment above.
Having lived in St. Louis much of my adult life, I agree with Gregory’s and Ed’s comment directly above.
I’m not an expert on the area, having just visited a few years ago and explored the light rail.
It does seem to me that often crossing the river can be a psychological barrier, and a station on the East Bank might draw people from the Illinois suburbs. Not sure if East St Louis is the right place, but the comments here do seem to have a whiff of racism.
As a person who was born and raised (and still live) in the St. Louis area (Edwardsville, IL is not far across the river), I have to say that the idea of an East St. Louis station sounds like a huge waste of money. They have the MetroLink and the roads that can take them right across the river to connect with the downtown St. Louis station. It is insanely easily accessible from the Illinois side of the river and I can’t see where a station would be built as the route completely bypasses downtown ESL, with the interstate highway between the city and the rail line. This idea sounds all around ridiculous.
Careful here. It might be possible for an Amfleet car to be put up on blocks during a station stop!
There are some ignorant KKK members on here smh
The St. Louis station is just 4 miles away and there’s already bus and light rail service between E. St. Louis and the station, seems like a waste of money to me.
Keeps the poor black folk out of the middle class areas
Wow, I wonder what comments Mr. Hays would make that were more racist than the one he posted.
Not just much racism here, but also self-hatred of working people, these sort of comments tell you all you need to know about why the US is at the bottom of most indicators for well-being- life expectancy, hourly wages, etc- for the developed world, Americans won’t work together to improve things, they want to keep the poorest segregated .
Everyone has a good point - an East Saint Louis station is too close to the other to be effective, especially with a high speed service. This does indeed defeat the purpose of high speed rail. Why not compromise and have a train or two originate and terminate from East Saint Louis instead of crossing the river into Missouri. The new station could be designed to connect with the area’s light rail system at ESL. This would offer more parking, and accessibility and also tap a new market of potential riders from Belleville and other communities in St. Clair County, Illinois, tightening up the existing schedule considerably. What rule says you have to go into downtown St. Louis with all Lincoln Service trains? Remember, these trains are subsidized by the State of Illinois.