Major changes are coming to train travel in the Midwest.
Amtrak is speeding up trains on some lines and eliminating the need to transfer at some stations. As of Monday, higher-speed trains are already running between St. Louis and Chicago.
That will speed up four Amtrak Lincoln Service round trips between Chicago and St. Louis.
“Trains will now run at maximum speeds up to 110 miles per hour for most of the Chicago-St. Louis corridor,” Marc Magliari, Amtrak’s senior public relations manager, said. “Ninety miles per hour had been the previous limit, and the faster speeds will also make shorter trips for the Texas Eagle line, which runs from Chicago to San Antonio — those trains will be going up to 100 miles per hour.”
Magliari also said passengers will no longer have to change trains between Kansas City and Chicago in St. Louis. He said the moves will help increase ridership from central Missouri to central Illinois.
Related: 1st look at Acela’s spiffy new trains
The Chicago routes are among Amtrak’s busiest, and the change will speed up passenger commutes.
“Less than two hours from Chicago to Bloomington-Normal and shorter than three hours to Springfield, with end-to-end St. Louis-Chicago schedules of under five hours,” Amtrak president Roger Harris said in a statement.
Upgrades along some 300 miles of tracks cost an estimated $2 billion and have been in the works for years. The changes included the installation of new traffic and train control systems and the closure of 39 crossings that were deemed risky. In Illinois, new train stations were built in Dwight, Pontiac, Carlinville and Alton, and the Lincoln, Normal and Springfield stations received renovations or improvements.
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Related: Amtrak investing billions in new, green cars
New locomotives continue to be rolled out into service. New Charger locomotives have 90% less emissions compared to older models. Thirty-three are already in service.
Related: Your complete guide to Amtrak Guest Rewards
Federal lawmakers have allocated some $66 billion for improvements to passenger and freight train lines over the next five years as part of the bipartisan $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed by President Joe Biden in 2021.
Other train updates
Amtrak tells TPG there are other pretty big train developments happening.
The Minnesota legislature approved funding for the Northern Lights Express project, which will help re-create Amtrak service on a 152-mile route from Minneapolis to Duluth. It’s a few years off, but construction should begin within the next year.
Funding was also approved for an additional round-trip service from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Chicago’s Union Station (advocates have pushed for a second train between the cities for years). Legislatures in Wisconsin and Minnesota are helping to fund the second service through the state of Wisconsin with stops in Milwaukee and La Crosse. The federal government awarded the two states more than $12 million to help pay for service expansion.
That comes as construction begins on a station expansion at the train stop next to Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE) that would allow for an eighth daily round trip on Amtrak’s Milwaukee-Chicago Hiawatha line.
Preliminary moves are also underway for a potential new Amtrak service linking Milwaukee and Madison and Milwaukee and Green Bay.
Another interesting line that could eventually receive some of the federal infrastructure money is the Heartland Flyer, which currently goes between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City. The state of Kansas and the state of Oklahoma are making a bipartisan push to expand the line to Newton, Kansas.
Maximizing train travel
If you’re booking a trip on one of Amtrak’s iconic routes, don’t forget you can earn points via Amtrak Guest Rewards or a fixed-value points program.
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (see rates and fees) and Chase Sapphire Preferred Card will earn you 2 points and miles per dollar on every purchase for Venture Rewards, and 2 points per dollar on all other travel for Sapphire Preferred which can include your train trips, while the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve earn 3 points per mile on travel.
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