The High Speed Rail Alliance advocates extending the Metra UP-North (my line) all the way to Milwaukee:
Hourly trains departures will bring Chicago and Milwaukee closer together, strengthen the economic and social ties between them, and help revitalize both city centers.
Wisconsin and Illinois set a goal of 14 daily roundtrips, which is close to hourly, in the mid-1990s. More recently, the Federal Railroad Administration’s Midwest Regional Rail Plan called for 24 daily roundtrips.
But heavy freight traffic between Techny and Rondout on the existing route has made the current goal of 10 daily roundtrips difficult to achieve.
Here’s the value of bringing the UP-North into the picture:
- Almost no freight traffic. There are no freight trains south of Lake Bluff, and there are just one or two, daily, north of Lake Bluff.
- Stations in the Kenosha and Racine city centers will create synergies between these cities’ downtowns—and channel more passengers onto the trains.
- Downtown stations in Evanston, Lake Forest, and Waukegan will provide additional traffic and connections to Metra’s local trains.
- Metra’s ten daily Chicago-Kenosha roundtrips provide a strong foundation for this expansion.
- At one time, limited-stop trains made this trip in 75 minutes.
I especially like that they used a photo of the new Ravenswood station on the cover.
I'll be on trains for a couple of hours today; Brews & Choos reviews to come.