Illinois transportation officials are looking towards the future for modes of transportation. One of those possibilities is a high speed railway.
CARTERVILLE, Ill. (WSIL)-- Illinois transportation officials are looking towards the future for modes of transportation.
One of those possibilities is a high-speed railway.
The High-Speed Railway Commission is in the midst of a feasibility study. They are gathering data to determine if a high-speed railway could benefit Southern Illinois residents.
Officials opened the study for public feedback.
James Derwinski, CEO of Chicago’s Metra Commuter Rail, says the study looks at if it’s possible to have a route that connects Saint Louis to Chicago.
“It's an opportunity, I think, for people to really re-envision the way city pairs can work. And specifically when you start getting the city pairs within a couple of hours like that, St. Louis to Chicago is an hour flight. It's currently a four-hour train ride. It's currently a five-hour trip in a car,� Derwinski said.
He says they want to see if people would use the new mode of transportation.
“Frequency is going to be a big component of any rail service. It can't just be once in a while. It's got to be on a frequent basis that people would actually use it in such a way that it becomes the deliberate mode of transportation,� Derwinski said.
They are researching the possibility of a high-speed rail network that would run from Chicago to St. Louis while still having connections to existing Amtrak, Metra, and MetroLink services. He says the study looks at how the new train could move within the cities of Chicago and St. Louis and how cities on the possible route could grow.
“Which city would it go to, and what does that look like for those residents of those communities? And in a lot of cases where we've seen communities really can explode if the transportation network's really good,â€� Derwinski said.Â
Derwinkski says there is still a long way to go before Illinois could get a high-speed railway, but he believes it could happen for the state.
“I absolutely think it can come. Again, it's all about how do we secure the funding and how do we get enough support behind it. That's why the public input's very important here, and a lot of people can really benefit from this,� Derwinski said.
Officials say they are looking for public feedback right now. They have a virtual event held until May 11 on their project website.
If you would like to weigh in, you can do that at .
You can also learn more about the high-speed rail.
