Ah you doom and gloomers thought this was dead. Reads like it is still rolling forwards to me…
See it pays to be optimistic on these things. So what is the superstation beneath block 37…first time I heard of that. Also first time I heard about turning Chicago Union Station into a shopping mall, I think the reporter got that part wrong.
The article used the term “shopping arcade” rather than shopping mall at Union Station. Also I hought ther was already a CTA line to O’Hare, why are they talking about using commuter or freight lines?
The proposed rapid transit station under Block 37 was to be part of an express rapid-transit service to O’Hare. Nobody seemed to think to the next step as to how an express service would operate since the O’Hare line (like most of the L) is a two-track line.
Boy, you’d need a high-powered microscope to find any encouragement for Chicago-Quad Cities in this story. All words, including IDOT’s blue-sky budget, no cash.
I am sure they are counting on several billions to be printed and pulled from the Federal Treasury to be spent on studying-designing-permitting-constructing. There is a lot of cash to be spread around Chicagoland on a project that large, so it will likely happen.
The odds of the State of Iowa chipping in for an extension to Iowa City are smaller than microscopic.
The current CTA Blue Line is only 2 tracks and takes nearly 45 minutes between the Loop and O’Hare on a good day. In addition, CTA stops near Union Station are at least a couple blocks away. The most likely plan for express service would use existing MILW-West line and North Central line O’Hare Transfer station.
A more ambitious proposal would run south of CUS and west over former Soo Line right-of-way through River Forest and Franklin Park. This route has very little freight traffic since CN routes through trains over EJE. An upgraded O’Hare Transfer station would provide direct connection to all terminals via an expanded People Mover. Express service could run through Union Station up to Milwaukee with DMU or electric trainsets.
Iowa already turned down funding but the Quad Cities have been pushing for this train since way back from the 1980’s. I think there is enough traffic to and from the Quad Cities to merit the train by itself. They can wait on Iowa and more favorable political conditions there. The plan for Iowa was to tap Iowa State University traffic from Iowa City. Which I feel they can still do with connector busses from Quad Cities.
Slight correction: Iowa State is in Ames, farther west; Uni Iowa is in Iowa City.
Also why would students take a connecting bus to board a train to go home to Chicago area? They can take many buses directly now. Suburban Express runs from campus to Oak Brook and Woodfield malls to and from on weekends: 3 hr 15 min.; $30 one way. Or Megabus or Burlington Trailways, but they are slower.
Interesting question, there is a small intermodal market though. Seen it in Milwaukee transfers from bus to train…even when the bus continues onto Chicago…you have folks get off the bus and transfer to the train in Milwaukee. The Amtrak Thruway buses have some traffic on them as well that go to Green Bay and other points not served by train.
No idea why folks do that (transfer from Bus to Train in Milwaukee for a short part of their trip). Is the bus station in Chicago in a bad area compared to Union Station or do they intend to transfer to METRA at Union Station? Not sure.
Now what I have seen in Wisconsin with UW-Madison, Badger Coaches has almost a 100% monopoly on the UW-Madison traffic from and to Madison, unfortunately Amtrak or Milwaukee was unable to lure them to the Amtrak Milwaukee Intermodal Terminal…then I started to scratch my head, where are they stopping in Milwaukee? Why at the former Greyhound Bus Terminal of course!!! Whats the point of having a Intermodal Train station when you can’t even recruit all the major Bus Lines in the city to use it??? I do not understand that. The former Greyhound Depot is not in a good neighborhood though but it is more convienent to Marquette Students than the Amtrak Depot is.
https://www.badgerbus.com/tickets/serviceinformation.aspx
It is too bad, thats some lost revenue for Amtrak on Chicago to Milwaukee Corridor. Some UW Madison folks take Greyhound and transfer
Dpends on the bus line. Megabus stops at Union Station, as does Van Galder. The Greyhound bus station is about 5 blocks south and west of Union Station. Not a bad location, but not convenient to the Loop.
Unless the “commuter line” ran on headways much more frequent than once per hour (the off-peak norm in Chicago), it would be useless. From a traveler’s standpoint, the wait time is part of the total transit time. It may take 45 minutes to get downtown on the CTA Blue Line, but the trains run every few minutes, so there’s very little wait time.
Then you have the cost of building a commuter station accessible from the airport terminals, probably with a hugely expensive underground tunnel (the existing ex-Soo Line route gets nowhere near the air terminals). Or, you could extend the existing airport / parking lot shuttle to the ex-Soo Line route, but then you have to add the time spent waiting for and riding the shuttle to the total transit time. You would also have to add capacity to the existing Milwaukee West line between Franklin Park and Chicago Union Station (which is already a full service commuter line as well as a freight route). And, after all this, you only get a route that accesses CUS on the far west side of the downto
It certainly helps the flow of useful information when someone who is familiar with the local layout examines such propsals.
the people mover extension is already under construction, its primary purpose will be to serve a combined rental car facility on the site of the former lot F
don’t recall Iowa turning down any money. They did submit an application for a $140M ARRA grant in '09 that was not accepted by FRA. They did get $17M from FRA for some new crossovers on the BNSF in 2010. And they did get $400000 from FRA for planning efforts.
Technically your correct but realistically, the constant delays on the Iowa side led the Federal government moving funds allocated to Iowa for Iowa City service…over to Illinois. And then you had the Iowa Governor drop the neutron bomb as reported on below in the link…
The Iowa governor chose to directly benefit/subsidize a business, rather than from bottom up through the public.
Iowa doesn’t want to be left holding the bag if and when Illinois fails to hold up their end. A real possibility considering that state’s horrible fiscal condition. I believe passenger service to Ia City would be a real success but I can’t blame Branstad for his decision.
billionaire vultures like rauner never use amtrak and therefore could care less if Illinois has passenger rail or not.
I seriously doubt Iowa would be held to any bargain that Illinois bailed on.
As I recall it, Branstad’s overiding objection to the Iowa City service was its requirement for a state subsidy for operations, which not unreasonably he predicted would be politically impossible to discontinue even as it continued ad infinitum. Same objection as Walker’s in Wisconsin and Kasich’s in Ohio.
I am one who thinks public subsidization of passenger trains is a worthwhile expenditure of tax dollars. But let’s face it: All state governments, with a nudge from Washington, have chosen to devote so much of their budgets to the well-known sacred cows, there’s precious little left over for the discretionary stuff, however nice.