Note: The following message originally appeared on another list by noted Chicago area transit advocate Adam Kerman, and I thought I'd forward it here for additional discussion. I don't agree with everything, but I do admit some of his ideas are intriguing...
Could we make North Central a decent commuter railroad?
The railroad has never suffered from a shortage of parking, buying land (or
leasing from Com Ed) to expand parking lots that weren't overflowing.
The area it serves has a growing population.
Should it be rerouted so that riders have shorter trips to downtown, even
though that means not serving O'Hare Transfer?
How do we reroute it?
Here are options I'm thinking about:
1) Antioch, Lake Villa, Round Lake Beach. Grayslake, Prairie Crossing
During rush hours, the Milwaukee North trains that turn at Lake Forest or
Deerfield could be extended to Antioch. The Fox Lake sub operates
peak-direction only during peak times, so this shouldn't be an issue.
Somewhere at Prairie Crossing, an elaborate electronic sign will be needed
to alert passengers which railroad the next train will be on.
Midday? Hard to justify full consists to both Fox Lake and Antioch via
Milwaukee North. Make it a branch line, keeping in mind that the feeder bus
service was unpopular. Need turnback at Prairie Crossing.
Most of the parking at Prairie Crossing will be closer to the wrong
railroad.
Big advantage: Faster ride to downtown. No need to double-track CN-WC at US
45 in Mundelein, a most expensive obstacle to overcome.
2) Mundelein, Vernon Hills, Prairie View, Buffalo Grove, Wheeling, Prospect
Heights
Build turnout at Deval; change route to downtown via UP Northwest. There's
no funding for construction of a new subway/cut for US 14, which would
interfere with construction of the turnout; doubt it's an issue.
Big advantage: Faster ride to downtown. Perhaps CN will complain less about
more trains since they'll be on the railroad only part of the way.
Disadvantage: North Western Station in lieu of Chicago Union Station.
Solution: Change terminals to North Western Station for other North Central
Service runs that use Milwaukee North or Milwaukee West at A-2
3) O'Hare Transfer, Rosemont, Schiller Park, Franklin Park
Do we just give up on these stations, make people transfer to Route 250 at
Des Plaines to get to O'Hare People Mover (which does avoid using Parking
Lot E to Parking Lot F shuttle). Passengers using Franklin Park are two
blocks away from the existing Milwaukee West station.
Solution: Some sort of looping train via UP Northwest, CN-WC, Milwaukee
West. Who would ride it? If trains requiring transfers stopped at the island
platform at Des Plaines, cross-platform transferring would be possible for
many riders.
Express trains at most times for riders originating west of B-12 Franklin
Park and west of Deval? All-day service on this loop route? Is it completely
redundant of CTA Blue Line?
Alternative: Route some UP Northwest trains via O'Hare. Is there any market?
Big problem: Land acquisition at Deval for turnouts.
Higher operating costs, sure, but perhaps it would attract enough new riders
to justify all the money we've spent on capital.
--Dorian--