With Governor Quinn onboard, Amtrak will see how traveling 110 mph works out between Chicago and St. Louis today. High speed train travel is always talked about, but logistically it may be difficult to do in this country, not because the trains and the tracks can't handle the speed, but there are so many stops. Maybe that makes no difference, I'm just not sure why.
Today's speed test will only cover the 15 miles between Dwight and Pontiac which is ironic, at least to me, since I-55 through Dwight has long been a speed trap. I received a ticket there along with many others. So I smile when I think of a train speeding out of Dwight.
In any event, it would be fantastic to have more trains running in the midwest and west with easy access and direct routes. Then if the trains went fast, all the better. If you live on the east coast train travel is direct and easy, out here it's more indirect. I've read ridership is up on Amtrak which makes sense when you see how exhausting air travel has become.



