(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Illinois is making a big push for major federal infrastructure dollars to be able to renovate Union Station as well as make commuting more efficient on Metra and Amtrak.
“If it rolls, floats or flies, it comes through Chicago,” said Congressman Mike Quigley who was among top Illinois political leaders gathered to announce the push for $873 million in federal infrastructure money for the Chicago Hub Improvement Program which would cost more than one billion dollars.
Proposed improvements for Union Station include better platforms, upgrading the ventilation system and the concourse and reactivating tracks for passengers that were first built for the Old Post Office. That will increase capacity for Metra and Amtrak.
“This project is going to untangle the network, open up capacity. It’s going to change the look and feel of Union Station," Metra executive director Jim Derwinski said.
Senator Tammy Duckworth said the proposed Chicago Hub Improvement Program would lessen delays for the more than 30 million people who pass through Union Station every year.
Senator Dick Durbin said the time is now for this project. “Chicago’s Union Station is the third busiest passenger rail terminal in America."
Once complete, the restored and sorted out track system would save riders 15 minutes on their trips on Amtrak’s Illini/Saluki and City of New Orleans trains.
However, the impact of the project would go beyond Illinois’ borders. Sixteen miles of a second track that Amtrak owns in southwest Michigan would eliminate a bottleneck and cut the Chicago to Detroit trip by 30 minutes.
“This is not just our hub. This is our heartbeat," Amtrak board chair Tony Coscia said.
"If we’re going to accomplish redrawing a map for Amtrak, if we are going to enter an entire new generation of rail travel in this country, we’re going to begin it here.”
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