Get the freight out!
The Chicago Sun-Times has an interesting article on high-speed rail and freight traffic delays.
But the promise of faster passenger rail is inextricably linked to the down-and-dirty business of freight. To make passenger and commuter trains move faster, you have to get the boxcars out of the way.And to do that, there needs to be more work done on the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program to improve freight, passenger and automobile traffic, according to U.S. Rep. Daniel Lipinski.
"You cannot have efficient passenger train service without the freight rail out of the way," Lipinski said. "They're all using the same track."
It's too bad we don't have a group like CREATE in central Illinois. Maybe we would have been on top of the high-speed rail proposals.
Frequent Amtrak riders know how often trains are delayed by freight traffic. Union Pacific is the worst offender but they improved after Dick Durbin pressured them.
I've heard people say that the current high-speed rail plan for Illinois is a waste because it would only shave off a small amount of time on the Springfield to Chicago trip. But, I think those numbers are misleading. The real value is having reliable passenger service that arrives on time because freight traffic delays are reduced. It would solve the number one barrier to better Amtrak service.
Which is one reason why consolidation on the 10th street corridor through Springfield concerns me. The IDOT presentation described it as a project to merge lines of five different rail companies that would require four sets of tracks. Springfield officials claim it will take fewer tracks. UP claims it would cause more rail traffic congestion.
Could consolidation make Springfield the bottleneck for the entire Chicago-St. Louis line? Wouldn't that make most of the high-speed rail spending a waste? Is it worth it just so we can have a multimodal station in a bad location farther away from the heart of downtown?
Whenever I start talking about details like this with someone opposed to the 3rd street corridor the conversation usually ends with them frustratedly saying, "BUT IT WILL DESTROY DOWNTOWN!" No, it won't, and Springfield has never been united on this issue no matter how many times the press and city officials keep telling us we are.