Amtrak Seeks $200 Million for Chicago Improvements

The agency wants to upgrade infrastructure and fix ‘long-standing deficiencies’ in its Chicago-area operations.

1 minute read

June 13, 2022, 6:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


An Amtrak passenger train is shown on a spring day, rolling through a rural area in Missouri.

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Reporting for Trains.com, Bob Johnston outlines Amtrak’s proposed plan to upgrade its Chicago-area infrastructure. “Amtrak is seeking more than $200 million in federal funding, along with money from state and local sources, in an attempt to fix a series of long-standing deficiencies, capacity limitations, and how trains from the south and east enter Chicago.”

Johnston lists the projects that would be funded under this request, including: direct access from the St. Charles Airline to Chicago Union Station to eliminate a time-consuming maneuver that some trains are currently forced to make, “property acquisition for storage and displaced service functions,” and the ‘reactivation’ of Chicago’s Union Station mail platform, among other interconnected projects. Some of the projects are speculative, such as a proposal to acquire Canadian National’s Lakefront Line.

Friday, June 10, 2022 in Trains.Com

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