Amtrak rail service between Chicago and Rockford to begin in 2015

The cost of the project to upgrade tracks and signals and make other safety improvementsis $223 million, which is being provided through the state’s capital program, officials said. It does not include the additional expense of subsequently building a permanent Main Street station along the Rock River in Rockford, officials said.

Plans call for expanding the train schedule to two daily roundtrips in late 2016 when the route is fully signalized, and increasing train speeds to 79 mph from 59 mph, which will reduce total trip times to about an hour and a half, officials said.

Stops are also being planned for Elgin, Huntley and Belvidere.

The route will eventually continue west to Dubuque, Ia,. with en route stops in Freeport and Galena.

The new route that will be utilized is on tracks owned by Metra and the Union Pacific Railroad.

The decision followed unsuccessful negotiations to use tracks owned by the Canadian National Railway.

IDOT officials said they are hopeful that agreement can be reached in the future with Canadian National to extend the service between Rockford and Dubuque on CN-owned tracks.

“The Union Pacific route is the route that we can get built as quickly as (Gov. Pat Quinn) would like us to get service started,’’ said Joseph Shacter, IDOT’s director of intermodal and public transportation.

The new route will use Metra’s Milwaukee District West Line and connect to the UP near Big Timber in Elgin, officials said.

Amtrak will use its existing trains when the new service is launched next year, Shacter said. The state is procuring new locomotives and coaches for 110 mph service on the Chicago-to-St. Louis corridor and for expanded passenger service elsewhere in Illinois. Some of the new equipment will be used on the Chicago-to-Rockford service in 2017 or 2018, he said.

jhilkevitch@tribune.com

Twitter @jhilkevitch

read more: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-04-10/news/chi-amtrak-rail-service-between-chicago-and-rockford-to-begin-in-2015-20140410_1_chicago-to-rockford-service-rock-river-new-route