High-Speed Rail Highlighted on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
WTTW’s Chicago Tonight program highlighted efforts to get a Midwest High-Speed Rail Network going as part of its Chicago Matters series. “This is a big deal,” ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner says as he describes the new economic stimulus funding for high-speed rail. “This is a potential fundamental change in the transportation infrastructure of the Midwest.” Watch the full Chicago Tonight segment.
Tags: Midwest High-Speed Rail
April 7th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
I hope I live long enough to see high speed rail. I believe there could be additional business opportunities for car services such as Zip Cars or car rental agencies. Imagine rather than driving from Chicago to Madison a person could board the train in Chicago, arrive in Madison and use an electric or hybrid rental car for the day. At the end of the day one could take the train back to Chicago. This would be more fuel efficient and probably less stressfull. Of course, this could also work for Springfield or St Louis.
April 9th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
And to Des Moines and Omaha!
Yes, high speed rail is what we MUST and SHOULD build.
I cannot contribute money at this time, but I can write and have already written to all our elected officials.
April 9th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
living less than 50 miles outside of chicago — at one of the far ends of the northwestern train line — i can tell you that driving into chicago becomes less and less of an option every month. i have never understood why a train line wasn’t built all the way down the middle if I-90 to rockford, but merely stopped at o’hare airport. anyone who has spent 2-3 hours in the parking lot of I-90, the edens, or 294 will tell you that if there were more decent travel options the public would willingly and excitedly embrace the change.
i remember traveling in the ’50s back and forth to minneapolis on the hiawatha line, which enabled my family to visit back and forth easily with our relatives. the above comment that proposes rental cars at your destination is genius.
i am constantly amazed by the number of vehicles, choking the roadways into and out of the city, containing only one person. and personally, with such poor travel choices into and out of chicago, i think mayor daley is insane to think the city can host an olympics with millions of added visitors!
the comment made in the video about flight options is certainly germane to the discussion. however, i’d be curious to know … if i factor in the time of getting to the airport, plus my flight time, in most cases i can drive to most of these midwestern destinations in almost the same amount of time. since 9/11 and “homeland security,” i really don’t consider air travel to be an option under 500 miles of travel. the airline industry fails to recognize what an incredible pain in the neck air travel has become. not only is it unpleasant, but it’s also uncomfortable, expensive, stressful, and no longer “user friendly.” buy a clue — there are NO MORE friendly skies!!
April 9th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
I recently completed a weeklong work trip in PA, VA, DE and NJ by taking the Capital Limited from Chicago to Pittsburg, renting a car there and returning home a week later on the train.
On a recent working trip to California involved taking Amtrak’s #5 from Naperville, IL to Salt Lake City, renting a car there for a day and taking the train to Ogden and back for a 2nd days work there, then continuing on #5 to Sacramento for the weekend. I rode the light rail to Folsom to spend Saturday night with my nephew and his family, then caught Amtrak 704 and a connecting bus from Stockton to Tracy. After a Monday morning appointment I took a connecting bus to Stockton and train 714 to Hanford. A rental car there allowed me to make 2 calls that afternoon. Tuesday morning I took train #702 and connecting bus to Long Beach where I spent the night. Wednesday I made calls in Long Beach and San Bernadino, where I dropped off the car and caught #4 to Flagstaff, AZ. Thursday I used another rental car to make a call in Tempe, catching #4 to Naperville on Friday morning and arriving home Saturday afternoon. This was only possible because of the frequent Amtrak service in California and access to rental car agencies close to Amtrak stations.
December 30th, 2009 at 1:25 am
I believe that it is essential for rental cars to be available either at or a short shuttle but ride from the train stations at least in cities of reasonable size. The ideas of Ken Kasel above are terrific and could be implemented at many locations today. Again, I think that if you build it, they will come.
I have travelled via Amtrak several times and agree with all of the above posters.
My most ambitious trip to date was from:
Houston, TX to Los Angeles (hotel and Chinatown eateries within walking distance of the station).
LA to Seattle with a short cab ride to the hotel which was within walking distance of the Space Needle and the other attractions as well as the monorail to downtown shopping.
Seattle to Chicago with another short cab ride to the hotel which was within walking distance of the miracle mile.
Chicago to Houston (downtown station is close to work for me so I can park there and get a ride to/from).
All this was done with 3 others, all with sleeping accommodations all the way including all meals, fantastic scenery on most of the route, all with a minimal carbon footprint, and cheaper than I could have made the trip by driving (of flying). It was totally enjoyable, even the few times it was late. The only thing I would change is I would stay over longer in cities along the way to tour them (I did my 6100+ train mile trip in 9 days).