STL to Chicago High Speed Rail

I'm pretty stoked about the news today that the DOT has given Missouri and Illinois grants to help with construction of some of America's first high speed rail lines - from St. Louis to Chicago.

O'Hare International Airport is a pain. It takes more than one hand to count the number of times I was to be delayed through the night for a flight home and I instead rented a car and drove the 5 hours home. I avoid flying to and from Chicago at all costs. I'd prefer to drive.

High Speed Rail Network

Actually, I've had great success with the current Amtrak service to and from Chicago. Granted, it takes longer than flying or driving (flying takes about an hour, driving takes about four hours from my house.) It's always taken between 5 and 6 hours from my train to get from Chicago to Alton or St. Louis. But it's nice to not have to focus on driving, to be able to plug in your laptop, hook up the high-speed Internet wireless card, and get to work for the duration of the trip.

The high speed service from STL to Chicago will apparently take "less than 4 hours" at speeds from about 110 MPH to in excess of 200 MPH.

By my calculation, that'd put one in Chicago much faster than "less than 4 hours." I wonder how many stops the new service will make along the way.

Read the whole story at the St. Louis Beacon.

This is apparently part of the proposed "Chicago Rail Corridor", which could also get me up to clients in the Twin Cities and Kansas City, as it would connect Chicago, Milwaukee, the Twin Cities, St. Louis, Kansas City, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville.

Nice!

Want to try the railway from St. Louis - or Alton - to Chicago, and vice-versa? You don't have to wait for the high-speed version. Amtrak already runs decent service along the eventual route. See this PDF for details on a current promotion for 20% from Alton to Chicago through the spring... and kids get a flat $11 one-way fare from Alton to Chicago.

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