Passenger Trains > Chicago-Detroit rail corridor program hearing yesterday

Stopped by the public input session on the Chicago-Detroit/Pontiac Passenger Rail Corridor Program at Chicago Union Station yesterday afternoon. These sessions are a necessary step in finishing the federal Tier I Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed program. The Tier I EIS will identify a preferred route alternative for the "South of the Lake" portion of the corrider between Chicago Union Station and Porter, IN. There are currently four alternatives still in the mix, out of 80 or so combinations of existing and previously-removed trackage studied. The four alternative routes are too complex to be easily described here, but all the details can be found in the EIS document available on the greatlakesrail.org website.

It is hoped that the selected route will receive a new, double-track, passenger only railroad to eliminate conflicts with the numerous freight movements in the SOTL area (this would mainly be constructed on existing rights-of-way adjacent to NS or CSX freight tracks). There is no money available at the moment; the work is estmated to cost around $3 billion (about $30 million/track mile). It may be that one goal of the Amtrak Chicago Terminal "Blue Ribbon Panel" announced earlier this week is to generate political support for funding the SOTL tracks, which would essentially remove Amtrak from nearly all freight railroad trackage in the terminal area except the BNSF to Aurora and the IC line between Grand Crossing and Homewood (and there's room on the latter R-O-W to put back the former separate passenger tracks, too).

On a related note, the St. Charles Air Line, slated for abandonment during the administration of Mayor Daley II, is now being touted as the principal entry to Union Station for all trains from the south and east. Instead of trains from Carbondale leaving the CN/IC line at Grand Crossing and using the NS Chicago Line west/north of there (CREATE Project P04), now all Amtrak trains on the NS Chicago Line would get off there and use the IC and the St. Charles Air Line to Union Station. Trains from St. Louis, switched to the Metra Rock Island District at Joliet per existing IDOT plans, could join this route at 16th St. Interlocking south of LaSalle St. Station. A 180-degree change in thinking. IDOT will be conducting a study of this proposal, which would bring intercity rail service to the McCormick Place Convention Center at 23rd St. on the IC line.

Thanks very much for attending and giving us your fine report. Looks like we have a few worthy projects to get behind.

I didn't think there was a connection at 16th St. between Metra RID and the Airline.

sums007 Wrote:
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> I didn't think there was a connection at 16th St.
> between Metra RID and the Airline.

There's a SW quadrant connection often used by Metra ballast trains and Chicago Rail Link.

An interesting plan to make use of the ex-IC north of 95th and the SCAL. It's well worth exploring.

If all trains from the south and east use the St. Charles Airline, wouldn't that require a backup move into CUS for these trains? I have only done that one time, but it is time consuming. Would there be a potential direct approach into CUS from the SCAL that could be utilized?

fulham Wrote:
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> If all trains from the south and east use the St.
> Charles Airline, wouldn't that require a backup
> move into CUS for these trains? I have only done
> that one time, but it is time consuming. Would
> there be a potential direct approach into CUS from
> the SCAL that could be utilized?

Not without construction of a new connection.

Real estate being what it is in the area, a direct head-on connection might have to be mostly on flyover bridgework and would involve a new crossing of the south branch of the Chicago River.

The only possibility I can envision that doesn't involve a new bridge is IF enough real estate is available in what used to be UP's Canal St. intermodal facility (itself built on what used to be C&WI's approach to Dearborn Station), you MIGHT be able to build a balloon track that would allow trains from the SCAL to come down the CN Freeport Sub to 21st St, proceed south on either the NS Chicago Line or Metra's "CWI Runner" and around the balloon track to run northward into CUS. This, too, would be time-consuming, probably as much or more so than a backup move, and it still faces freight interference from trains moving between NS and BNSF via the Amtrak wye at 18th St.

I suspect the Grand Crossing option is cheaper than anything discussed above, and if the powers-that-be find that too expensive for their tastes, then I fear the die has been cast for backup moves.

There IS a way to get a direct, head-on approach to CUS from the Rock Island, utilizing the "Boomer", the former Chicago Junction Ry. tracks from Root St. west to CP 518, where a new connection in the NE quadrant would be needed. This track exists (currently it's FRA Excepted Track) as a connection for Metra to shuttle equipment between the CUS District (Milwaukee, North Central, SWS and Heritage Corridor) and the ex-RI shops at 47th St.

NZ

fulham Wrote:
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> If all trains from the south and east use the St. Charles Airline, wouldn't that require a backup
> move into CUS for these trains? I have only done that one time, but it is time consuming. Would
> there be a potential direct approach into CUS from the SCAL that could be utilized?

I've been told that the proposal would include a substantial upgrade to the Air Line, possibly including a flyover bridge at 16th St./Rock Island X-ing and new ramps allowing a head-on move to Union Station. And, I hope, eliminating the extremely sharp S-curve east of 16th St. We'll let the civil engineers figure it out, but the head-on entry could be done on a sharp curve using the dormant B&OCT bridge and sacrificing part of the Metra 14th St. Yard. If the idea is to re-invigorate the so-called West Loop Transportation Center project, the ramp could end up on Clinton St. instead of in the station throat, a much easier curve.

The West Loop TC project would allow high-speed through service from O'Hare Airport to Union Station and McCormick Place Convention Center, a long-sought goal of the City (and the Midwest HSR Association). The City is trying to make the McCormick Place area a self-contained "village" for out-of-town convention-goers, with two new hotels, a sports arena, and other amenities. O'Hare service via Metra/Milwaukee District West Line to Bensenville and thence to a long-planned (though never funded) Western Terminal area along the Techny Cut-off is a much longer shot. Given the way airport facilities are funded, the airlines would have to agree to this. If U.S. airport operators are ever made masters of their own houses by deregulating landing slot fees, it might happen.

As a final note, there are many rail proposals affecting the Chicago Terminal, including Chicago-Detroit, Chicago-St. Louis, CREATE, the Amtrak CUS Master Plan, the City's West Loop Transportation Center, the Chicago-Quad Cites and Chicago-Rockford services, etc. Many of these overlap and sometimes are not in harmony with each other. The FRA is becoming confused and has asked IDOT to reconcile all these plans to achieve consistency, a supra-CREATE, if you will. This strikes me as bureacrats' dislike for inconsistency coupled with a belief that the way to untangle a bureaucratic mess is to create another layer of bureacracy to oversee the others (sort of like creating a new national intelligence agency to perform the centralizing functions the CIA was created to perform, meanwhile leaving the CIA and the other elements of the national intelligence establishment that refused to be "centralized" by them in place).

Seems like the best way to attach the air line to CUS head on would be to have a long turn north starting at Clark street and build a new bridge over the river that would join the to the Amtrak yard south of Roosevelt road, near where they currently store the private cars. Much of the area East of the river is still vacant since the removal of the old Dearborn train yards. This would eliminate the backup move. It would also be an easy way to connect the Rock Island line to CUS, which would allow the Illinois service trains to use this line also.

However, in order to handle all Amtrak's Eastbound, Southbound, and Illinois service trains, this would almost have to be a double line. I am also not sure how much clearance over the river the line would have to have, there may be too steep of a grade.