Illinois Amtrak Service

Hooray!!

Yay! More wasted taxpayer money!

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Wed May 19, 2021 5:08 pm Local NBC News has just reported that all Illinois sponsored train frequencies will be restored not later than July 19.

Submitted for ready reference to the two immediate; appears on the preceeding page.

gokeefe wrote: ↑Fri Apr 30, 2021 11:38 am

eolesen wrote:As an Illinois taxpayer, there are far more egregious examples of $$$ spent here with no apparent benefit. Teacher pensions come to mind...

While I appreciate concerns about the state of education and children in Chicago this somment seems gratuitous and potentially beneath the dignity of this forum. I'm not a moderator nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express .... However, I do think the situation with this project is fundamentally unacceptable. Upgrades to hardware and software should be possible that will make the original goals achievable.

One thing that caught my attention was the mention of "seconds" with regards to data transmission. That would appear to be a very clear problem with bandwidth (or lack thereof) at data points along the line. To me this sounds like an issue that would be dealt with using fiber optics to the trackside infrastructure and imported computing power for the computer servers.

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Well said this is NOT the place for it.!!!!

Not to sound rude but on threads that are about the Amtrak Illinois operations, it's a waste of time to see posts that aren't relevant to what the post is about. The posts about teacher's pensions have nothing to do with trains at all. I have stayed at that Holiday Inn Express in Chicago once and it was during a layover after getting off a Metra train in Chicago from Naperville so that way I can be near CUS for a long daytrip to Quincy on the Carl Sandburg. It will be great to have all of the Amtrak Illinois frequencies back in about a month. It will make things a little easier for train travel, especially for people heading from Chicago to Champaign-Urbana for the day plus riding the Carl Sandburg.

The quip about pensions was a sarcastic reflection of the harsh reality that the State's numerous obligations currently exceed their tax revenues, and have for quite some time.

And yet, while the State is essentially bankrupt, y'all still show up here fawning about the possibility of new shiny trains zipping people on day trips to cornfield communities?

I'll say it again --- Illinois is broke. They've been going broke for over a decade, and it's getting worse. Those fundamental problems need to be addressed before the State starts investing in expanding rail...

It's sad to say that many people have been moving out of Illinois. Hopefully those rural towns along the Amtrak routes in Illinois aren't losing too many residents.

Where Illinois Is Losing Population – Chicago Magazine - "More people left our state than any other in the 2010s. Part of the problem: Unlike elsewhere, there’s been no urban growth to offset rural decline."

It's mainly rural areas that are declining, and Chicago and other IL cities did not grow enough to compensate for that loss.

eolesen wrote: ↑Fri Jun 11, 2021 5:01 am The quip about pensions was a sarcastic reflection of the harsh reality that the State's numerous obligations currently exceed their tax revenues, and have for quite some time.

And yet, while the State is essentially bankrupt, y'all still show up here fawning about the possibility of new shiny trains zipping people on day trips to cornfield communities?

I'll say it again --- Illinois is broke. They've been going broke for over a decade, and it's getting worse. Those fundamental problems need to be addressed before the State starts investing in expanding rail...

Maybe because they know (or at least believe) that passenger trains stimulate economic growth , and make towns and cities served more desirable places to live.

I think eolsen's point regarding revenues vs. expenses is entirely understandable in that there a rational mindset associated with fiscal management.

That being said "you can't cut your way to prosperity". Austerity measures work in the sense that they reduce expenses but depending on the program they can also have an attendant effect on revenues.

This Catch-22 is a very common problem in government when there is population decline, an erosion of tax base (or potentially both).

Infrastructure investment that attracts population and restores tax base is fundamentally the only way out.

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You can't spend your way to prosperity either.

If Illinois had reasonable taxes, perhaps, but we don't, and the value proposition for people who live here has been declining for a long time. Good schools in the districts with wealth, not so good everywhere else,, crappy roads and legendary corruption.

If anything, those crappy roads probably push more people onto transit than anything else.

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It's a far cry from the promised 110 mph by 2015, so let me temper my enthusiasm, but another site is reporting that Chicago - St Louis speeds are getting bumped to 90 mph tomorrow, including all state sponsored corridor trains and the Texas Eagle. So hey, at least that's something finally for the $2 billion spent! I'll have to keep an eye on the tracker tomorrow for some speed snapshots.

$ 2 billion was not spent on this one line.

David Benton wrote:$ 2 billion was not spent on this one line.

Actually, yes. $1.9B just in public funds for this one line... Maybe more if you look at what UPRR and localities may have spent outside the grant money.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/high-speed ... 1551713342

Illinois won $1.34 billion of the stimulus bill’s money. The state then scooped $300 million more from the same pot when Ohio, Florida and Wisconsin declined funds. Illinois’s government chipped in $300 million of state money.

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Whoa , I thought there were a few projects in Illinois . UP did well out of that one , Though I think a fair bit went to developing a signal system that never worked.