Friday, January 29, 1999
Fast train gets a green light
Chicago route gets first OK
BY TANYA ALBERT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A proposed high-speed train connecting Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Chicago got the official nod Thursday to take its first steps.
INFOGRAPHIC
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Map of proposed Midwest high-speed rail system.
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U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater on Thursday in Chicago announced the expansion of the Chicago Hub High-Speed Rail Corridor, which would serve 4 million people in urban areas. That's in addition to the 20 million people in the Chicago Hub Corridor.
The designation of the Cincinnati-Indianapolis-Chicago line makes the area eligible for federal money that along with state and local funds would be needed to upgrade tracks and make grade crossing improvements to accommodate trains that would move up to 110 miles per hour.
It is the first step in the process to create a $300 million line between the two cities. The process includes applying for federal money available under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) and finding local and state money.
A total of $5.25 million is available for all high-speed rail corridors in the nation for fiscal 1999 and each year through fiscal 2005.
“The American people will benefit from safe, comfortable, reliable, high-speed passenger rail service, which provides an attractive option for travel between major urban centers and helps cities manage the increased congestion that is forecasted,” Mr. Slater said in a press release Thursday.
The corridor is part of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative. Nine Midwest states interested in connecting their cities by high-speed trains developed the plan. Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration also took part.
Parts of the plan that uses Chicago as a hub also got a financial boost Thursday.
Mr. Slater gave Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson a $200,000 check for preliminary engineering studies for a corridor between Milwaukee and Madison, Wis.
And Amtrak officials announced the company will invest $25 million in high-speed rail in the Midwest. About $5 million will be used for a rail connection on the south side of Chicago. The connection will cut travel time by 20 minutes by letting the trains avoid an area where they would have to do a circuitous back-up move over another rail line. A $2 million intermodal station in St. Louis and $1 million in improvements to the station in Milwaukee are also included.
“While each of these investment projects represents real progress, they also clearly demonstrate Amtrak's commitment to high-speed service in the Midwest,” Amtrak President and Chief Executive Officer George Warrington said Thursday in a press release.
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