The Corridors: BNSF
The BNSF Corridor parallels US Route 34 from Chicago to Galesburg where it divides into three branches.
The BNSF Railway, under contract to Metra, currently operates 47 daily roundtrip commuter trains between Chicago and Aurora. Preparations are underway to extend Metra service to Oswego and eventually to Plano.
Amtrak operates two daily roundtrips to Quincy under contract to the State of Illinois. Additionally, Amtrak operates two national network trains to Galesburg where they diverge with ultimate destinations in Los Angeles and Oakland, CA.
Passenger trains on this corridor run at high average speeds and at high levels of dependability due to appropriate levels of infrastructure investment and a strong cooperative relationship between the BNSF, Amtrak and Metra.
Short-term capital needs for the route are small. Sidings will need to be lengthened or constructed between Galesburg and Quincy in order to maintain reliability for the additional roundtrip.
This study also proposed creating a Quad Cities branch of the corridor by building a new connection where the BNSF corridor crosses the Rock Island corridor near Wyanet. We have included the Quad Cities in our Rock Island Corridor analysis.
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