The State of Rail in Illinois Midwest High Speed Rail Association April 12, 2014

The State of Rail in Illinois

Midwest High Speed Rail Association

April 12, 2014

Topics

• Chicago-St. Louis progress report– Chicago-St. Louis– Joliet Station – Chicago-Rockford– Chicago-Moline

• Locomotive and Railcar Procurement • Other Studies• 220 report• CREATE Update• Q&A

Midwest Regional Rail Initiative

The First Corridor: Chicago-St. Louis

• $1.3 billion in federal grants

• More than $400 million in state matching funds

• Overall trip time reduction to 4h 25 minutes by end of 2017

• Corridor to be equipped with new locomotives and railcars beginning in 2016

Chicago-St. Louis Work Update• Class VI rail and concrete ties

installed between just south of Joliet to south of Alton

• Dwight-Pontiac 15-mile segment now operating at 110 mph

• 110 territory to expand in two phases: End of ’15 and end of ‘17 (30-minute travel time reductions corresponding with each completion date)

• Work in 2014-17 to concentrate on:– 13 new sidings to add capacity– Installation of positive train control– Improvements at more than 200

grade crossings

Joliet Station Project• $50 million project funded by Illinois,

City of Joliet, and BNSF• Will move Metra Rock Island Joliet

stop to east of intersections with UP and BNSF

• New parking lot completed• New Rock Island platform now in

construction• Amtrak and Metra Heritage Corridor

trains to be served by center platform• New station building to be adjacent

to new Rock Island platform• Passengers no longer will need to

cross live tracks to board• Existing historic station building will

be maintained as event space• Completion slated for late 2015

Bringing Passenger Trains Back• Chicago-Rockford-Dubuque

– Protracted negotiations with CN Railway led state to decision to move to “northern” route on UP

– Initial 59 mph, 1 daily round-trip service to begin by end of ‘15

– Service to be upgraded in ‘16– State will continue to pursue

completing route from Rockford to Dubuque on CN

– $223 million for Chicago-Rockford to be funded entirely by state

• Chicago-Moline– Construction on BNSF segment

between Chicago and Wyanet to be completed in 2014

– State recently increased its investment from $45 to $78 million, further leveraging $177 million federal grant

– New Moline station now in design; received Tiger grant

– Segment between Wyanet and Moline owned by Iowa Interstate Railroad; negotiations on final upgrade scope and budget to be finished in upcoming weeks, permitting construction to begin this year

– Route will run on all new locomotives and railcars

Rolling Stock Update

• Railcars– Bi-level cars being built by

Nippon-Sharyo– Now in final design– Pilot cars coming in

spring‘16– Monthly deliveries to

start late in ’16– Goal is to equip as many

corridors as possible in Midwest with new equipment

• Locomotives– IDOT led procurement– Awarded to Siemens– 21 locomotives coming– First deliveries in ‘17

Other Studies Underway

• Chicago-St. Louis Tier 2 studies:– Chicago-Joliet: On Rock Island Corridor– South of Springfield: UP/NS Flyover– Granite City-St. Louis: Includes new or rehabilitated crossing

over Missisippi River– Once complete, these studies will put state in position to

compete for design/construction funding• Quad Cities-Danville feasibility study• Additional Chicago-Champaign round-trips• St. Charles Air Line and second connection at Grand

Crossing (part of CrossRail plan)

If we build it…• Will they come?• Consider this:

– In 2007, additional state investment in more daily round-trips—with no other improvements—led to phenomenal growth over the last seven years

• Chicago-St. Louis: Up 225%• Chicago-Carbondale: Up 154%• Chicago-Quincy: Up 95%• And Chicago-Milwaukee, with NO CHANGE in schedule, up 42%

– Total ridership on state-supported trains: Up from 948,000 to more than 1.8 million

• Now imagine ridership gains with much faster travel times, reliable service, and new equipment

• And of course, we just installed WiFi on ALL Midwest trains

220 MPH Program• Part of Governor Quinn’s vision for Illinois• University of Illinois study completed in

2013• Depending on level of investment, $23-

$50 billion cost• 8-15 million annual riders projected• Key hurdle – funding the up-front capital

cost• State strategy

– Complete CHI-STL 110 mph upgrades– Finish new corridors– Provide superior service on new

equipment– Goal is for public’s embrace of improved

train service to lead to demand for federal and state governments to take the “next step” toward true HSR

CREATE – Update

CREATE Partners

• 25 road/rail grade separations

• 6 passenger/freight rail grade separations

• 36 railroad projects to improve rail infrastructure and upgrade technologies

• Viaduct improvement program

• Grade crossing safety enhancements

• Rail operations and visibility improvements

CREATE Program

5. Memphis243,000 railcars

BNSF, CSXT, CN, NS, UP

4. Kansas City478,000 railcars

BNSF, CPRS, KCS, NS, UP

3. New Orleans602,000 railcars

BNSF, CN, CSXT, KCS, NS, UP

2. St. Louis645,000 railcars

BNSF, CSXT, CN,KCS, NS, UP

Source – U.S. DOT Freight Analysis Framework 3, 2010; includes freight originating and terminating at gateways – does not include through-freight

1. Chicago1,343,000 railcars

BNSF, CN, CPRS, CSXT, NS, UP

East-West Freight Rail GatewaysRanked by Loaded Railcars per year, 2010

Project Status

Completed Projects 20Under Construction9Final Design 6Environmental Review

13

Remaining Projects22

TOTAL 70

CREATE Program, Overall Project Status Summary

Revised: 29-Nov-2012

CREATE and 110 MPH Program

Modeling efforts did not include 110 program, but…

• CREATE “preserves the footprint” for 110

• Some projects improve existing AMTRAK service on 110 corridors

• Some projects improve crossing routes

• Example: CREATE will permit 30 Metra Southwest Service trains/day to move to LaSalle St Station, freeing up Union Station slots for HSIPR usage

Another Example of CREATE Project Supporting 110 MPH Program

Chicago - Detroit• P1 – “Englewood Flyover” at

right• Main bridge spans complete• Bridge will “fly” Metra Rock

Island District commuter rail over Norfolk-Southern main line that also hosts Amtrak Michigan service

• Also helps Amtrak’s other Eastern routes

• Construction began in 2012• Expected substantial

completion in October 2014

Add P1 mockup

RECENTLY COMPLETED

GS7, Belmont Road, Downers

Grove

• Eliminated the at-grade crossing of the BNSF tracks at Belmont Road (County Route 2) by constructing an underpass for motor vehicles. Metra Commuter Rail

and Amtrak also operate on these tracks. Belmont Road now consists of two lanes of traffic in

either direction, with a

tunnel for pedestrians on the west side of Belmont Road

• Eliminated at-grade crossing of BNSF tracks at Belmont Rd. – road underpass

• Built a tunnel for pedestrians

Eliminated road/rail conflict

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

GS15a: 130th and Torrence, Chicago

• Eliminate the at-grade crossings of the two Norfolk Southern main tracks with 130th Street and Torrence Ave.

• Existing bridge carrying two NICTD South Shore Line commuter rail tracks over NS tracks and Torrence Ave. re-built

• Eliminate conflict between railroad and access to Ford Plant

Will eliminate road-rail conflicts

GS15a: 130th and Torrence, Chicago

NICTD

Norfolk Southern

130th St Brainard Ave

Torrence Ave

GS15a: 130th and Torrence, Chicago

KEEPING CREATE MOVING

CREATE Funding 2012

Single Largest Funding Advancement in CREATE History

• $211 M from Gov. Quinn’s IL Jobs Now Capital Program• $155 M from the CREATE Partner Railroads• $10.4 M in Federal TIGER IV funding

• Will design/construct GS6 at 25th Avenue in Bellwood/Maywood

• Upgrade 11 City Viaducts• Will allow all railway infrastructure components of CREATE’s

Belt, Western Avenue, and East-West Corridors to be completed

with the exception of the mega-project at 75th St. in Chicago to reconfigure Belt Junction

Questions?

Joe Shacter – Director of Public and Intermodal Transportation

Joseph.shacter@illinois.gov