Our Abe Lincoln Express proposal The State of Illinois, the federal government and private industry has committed over $200 million towards the Chicago - Springfield - St. Louis corridor. The final goal is to have nine trains a day, in each direction, operating between Chicago and St. Louis. When completed, Bloomington/Normal will be less than two hours from Chicago. Springfield will be just 2 hours and 30 minutes away. The Chicago - St. Louis trip will take roughly 3 hours and 45 minutes. In 2004, the Midwest High Speed Rail Association asked the State of Illinois to take the next step by operating two more daily departures in each direction and take about 15 minutes out of the schedule. Our proposal, which we call the Abe Lincoln Express, includes: • Arrival in Chicago, Bloomington/Normal and Springfield in time for a 10:00 am meeting • Noon arrival in St. Louis • A reliable morning departure to Chicago • After dinner departures from both Chicago and Springfield We have also proposed an express train targeted at tourists and government travelers. It will increase Springfield tourism without increasing Springfield traffic. On October 30, 2006, the State increased service from three daily roundtrips to five, but did not do the trackwork needed to reduce travel times. We have included that trackwork in our "Illinois Fast Track Initiative" proposal. Download our 2004/2005 proposal here. (420k) Learn about the Illinois General Assembly's decision to double Amtrak service in Illinois. Learn about our "Illinois Fast Track Initiative" proposal here.