Amtrak has started a big speedup on its Midwest services out of Chicago, with new equipment and upgraded track that allows its trains from Chicago to St. Louis to run at up to 110 mph, up from 90 before.
That will not only speed Illinois-to-Missouri service, bu will also give a time boost to Amtrak’s Texas Chief, which uses the same corridor. And, passengers from Kansas City to Chicago will no longer have to change trains in St. Louis.
Other projects underway and scheduled to be completed over the next few years, using money from states and from the Federal infrastructure bill, include Minnesota’s Northern Lights Express which will connect Minneapolis and Duluth, a second daily train between Minneapolis/St Paul and Chicago, and a Milwaukee-to-Green Bay service in Wisconsin.
