According to George Weber of the Illinois Department of Transportation's Bureau of Railroads, the new trains wouldn't be pulled by a locomotive. Instead, they would have a self- propelled diesel power car on each end. Plans also call for adding passenger amenities similar to those found on first-class commercial air service. Every seat will have outlets for laptops, video displays and audio music. The proposal couldn't come at a better time for Champaign-Urbana, which plans on opening a new intermodal transportation center in downtown Champaign this winter.
People think more about traveling anywhere by train if they can get there more quickly.
They will have to replace the tracks they tore out a few years ago. Urbana would be a part of the second wave of high-speed train implementation. The Chicago to Carbondale route is one of seven routes proposed for Phase 2, which also includes Chicago to Cleveland, Chicago to Cincinnati, Chicago to Quincy, St. Louis to Kansas City, Milwaukee to Green Bay and Battle Creek to Port Huron. Once money for the project is approved, it could take approximately four years to complete a high-speed system for the Chicago to Carbondale route. According to a report from the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative, the high-speed rail program will generate 1,500 new rail operations jobs and 4,000 construction jobs along with significant increases in employment in the manufacturing, service and tourism industries throughout the Midwest region.