The state of Illinois received $186 million from the Federal Government on Wednesday to help complete the $1.1 billion Chicago to St. Louis high speed rail project that will travel at 110 mph and take over an hour off the total trip time.
The $186 million will fund the segment of track running from Joliet to Dwight. The work projects supported by this fund will also include an extension of track out of Chicago that now terminates in Joliet, and a portion of track used for trains to pass each other near Braidwood.
The total cost to build the Joliet-to-Dwight leg of the project is $248.5 million. The state of Illinois is funding an additional $42 million and Union Pacific Railway is contributing $20 million to complete the project.
The HSR Chicago to St. Louis website shows a map of the route. The line will run through Chicago, Summit, Joliet, Dwight, Pontiac, Bloomington-Normal, Lincoln, Springfield, Carlinville, Alton, and St. Louis. Construction on the southern end of the Chicago to St. Louis high speed rail project has been underway since 2010. The Alton to Springfield segment was completed in 2010 and the Springfield to Dwight segment completed in 2011.
Six new sets of trains capable of running at 110 mph will be purchased for use on this corridor. Testing of the high speed rail project will begin in 2012 on the Dwight to Pontiac corridor, and the entire project is anticipated to be completed in 2014.
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