As the final installment in National Public Radio’s week long series on high speed rail, two Chicago based reporters looked at the Midwest region, which hopes to connect 12 major metropolitan cities. Union Station in Chicago is the fourth busiest train station in the nation, having served 3 million people last year.

Under the Midwest high speed rail proposal, Chicago would be the hub. According to NPR reporters, three lines have priority. These include a Saint Louis, Missouri; Detroit, Michigan; and Milwaukee-Madison, Wisconsin line, each of which would emanate from Chicago. The most popular train route from Chicago is currently the “Hiawatha” which runs to Milwaukee.

Back in July Illinois Governor Pat Quinn held a Midwest high speed rail summit which included representatives of eight states: Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio, Minnesota, and Illinois. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm cited estimates that a high speed rail network could provide 57,000 permanent jobs and 15,000 construction jobs.

Currently, Amtrak trains run on the same tracks as freight lines. The cost to dedicate a rail line exclusively to a high speed rail (ones that could achieve speeds of up to 220 miles per hour) would increase the expense beyond the current multi-billion dollar estimates for a 110 mile per hour “high speed rail”. While the reduction in travel time (Chicago to St. Louis or Cleveland in 2 hours, down from a current 4-5 hours by train or car) is an attractive benefit, the hurdles that

NPR also compared US high speed rail to other systems in the world. Noah Adams interviewed Robert Cruikshank, founder of the California High Speed Rail Blog. Cruikshank argues that China is in a similar position to the US in regards to the state of its high speed rail system. However, the Chinese are planning to spend $730 billion (US) on new rail lines, nearly 100 times the amount of money set aside by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Europe is about 30 years ahead of the US, as they constructed high speed rail systems in response to the 1970s oil crisis, as a way of reducing crude oil consumption. Cruikshank argues that the US would need in excess of $100 billion (US) to build a national high speed rail network.

- Eric Wilson

[image source: NPR.org]