It’s been a little more than three years since Illinois’ High Speed Rail Commission began exploring the creation of a statewide plan for a high-speed rail corridor connecting St. Louis to Chicago. It’s an idea that could cut the travel time between the two metro areas in half from Amtrak’s existing service.
The commission has inched forward, considering numerous potential routes and construction approaches through the center of the state, and even amending the southern terminus to East St. Louis, which would avoid the need to contend with crossing the state line and the Mississippi River.
A first look at the potential number of people who may use the line was finally shared during last month’s commission meeting, bringing with it a sense of how much revenue such a route could bring in. The figures came from a model Quandel Consultants and WSP worked to develop for the commission to estimate the ridership numbers, as well as how they may grow into the future…