The sad thing is, the Englewood Flyover is only the first of several large projects that are included in CREATE. We've still got Grand Crossing, 75th Street Corridor, and several other flyovers on the SouthWest Service and Heritage Corridor/Chi-StL.

It's unacceptable if these clown politicians keep holding the whole region ransom because black-owned firms aren't competitive bidding on large projects.

East Lansing wins $6.2M federal grant for new multi-modal transit station
 

Add East Lansing to the list of Midwest communities that are upgrading and consolidating their local bus transit systems and intra-city bus services within a new Amtrak station along with long term parking, taxi and bicycle facilities.

MLive link

East Lansing wins $6.2M federal grant for new multi-modal transit station
Published: Monday, July 23, 2012, 12:40 PM Updated: Monday, July 23, 2012, 1:09 PM
Angela Wittrock | awittroc@mlive.com By Angela Wittrock | awittroc@mlive.com

EAST LANSING – A federal grant will help the city of East Lansing build a new transportation station to serve Michigan State University students, residents and the Greater Lansing region, city and federal officials announced Monday.

"The quality of public transit in the Greater Lansing region is about to take another big step forward," said Robert Rivkin, general counsel for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The $6.2 million award is part of nearly $47 million in grants for six other transportation projects in Michigan, including upgrades in Kalamazoo, Jackson and Battle Creek.

Federal officials say some $787 million has been awarded nationally to modernize and repair transit stations and infrastructure.

The funding will cover most of the cost of the new Capital Area Multimodal Gateway Project.

The total project cost is estimated to be $10.48 million.

Amtrak, which operates train service from the station, and the Michigan Department of Transportation are each contributing $500,000 toward the new station.

Michigan State University, through a long-term land lease of the property, will kick in an additional $3.2 million.

"This station provides a vital link for thousands of students and local commuters who pass through here every day to board a bus, hop on a bike, or take a train," Rivkin said.

"This is a great win for the Greater Lansing region, bringing an essential facility into the modern age, making it accessible for people with disabilities, improving safety for pedestrians and, above all, restoring a measure of civic pride to all who pass through here," he said.
...
The station, along with all but one surrounding structure, will be razed; the new, larger facility will be built in its stead, and will include a train platform for passengers, as well as bike parking, a CATA bus stop for inner-city bus routes and pedestrian improvements.

East Lansing Mayor Pro Tem Nathan Triplett said the station had registered a 200 percent increase in Amtrak ridership since 2003, showing a demonstrated need for a more modern, accessible facility.
...
The new facility will include 140 parking spaces, parking and storage for bicycles, and a commuter rail platform.

Officials also plan to have taxi service on site, as well as service stops for the new Megabus system and the popular Michigan Flyer bus.

Construction is expected to begin as soon as the grant funding is released.

Speeding Up in the Midwest (WSJ 7/24/12)
 

Speeding Up in the Midwest
Illinois and Michigan Are Betting on Economic Gains From Faster Amtrak Service.

By Mark Peters
Wall Street Journal
July 24, 2012

"NORMAL, Ill.—Passenger trains in the Midwest are becoming the first outside of the Northeast to move at triple-digit speeds, as Illinois and Michigan bet faster Amtrak service will fuel economic growth.

Trains reaching speeds of 110 miles per hour—along with new stations and plans for more daily trips—are cementing a divide in the region over passenger rail. While Illinois and Michigan beef up passenger service, Wisconsin and Ohio say it isn't a good investment. States such as Iowa sit in the middle, looking to expand but at a slower pace.

An estimated $2.1 billion being spent by Illinois and Michigan on track upgrades, new railcars and locomotives is funded mostly by the 2009 federal economic stimulus law..."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...googlenews_wsj

Advocates For Passenger Rail Back Proposed Columbus-Chicago Link
Source: http://beta.wosu.org/news/2012/07/24...-chicago-link/

Lansing doesn't have commuter rail...?

I actually can't wait until Kasich leaves office. I hope Ohio doesn't re-elect him. Proposing a high-speed rail hub is NOT a mistake; axing it, calling it excessive spending, on the other hand, IS/WAS a mistake. Electing that... guy... was a mistake...

It is only a matter of time, I think, before other states start catching on that HSR could be an economic engine. It is nice to see Michigan and Illinois taking more of an initiative in launching a large-scale regional HSR network...

3C is and was a deeply flawed proposal. People kept apologizing for it, but it has to be time-competitive or price-competitive, and it was neither.

Ohio needs good rail service, not shitty rail service.

Midwest 110 mph speed service, whether you consider that high speed or not, is only being installed on two rail lines, the Amtrak and Michigan owned line to Detroit and the UP owned line to St. Louis. The only reason the UP is allowing 110 mph service on that line is because an Illinois congressman stepped in with a previous UP merger, demanded and received that concession, to allow the merger to proceed. The UP really wanted that merger bad enough to make that concession.
All the other expansions in the MidWest are 79 mph max speed trains because they used freight railroad owned tracks, and there's no merger being planned. So, the MidWest HSR corridors will be limited to just a few, not the network some are much too excited about.

Huh? To where?

^Agreed. The rail rejection by WI, OH FL concentrated the nations HrSR investment into areas that had more demand for rail and had programs in place to put the money to use. ILL got an additional $186mil for the Joliet to Dwight upgrades and the NE corridor became eligible for much of the HrSR funding. Also NC, VA and CA all benefited.

Ohio's rail future hinges on East-West connections. The CHI-FTW-Columbus-PIT line comes to mind. Especially connecting in PIT with the Pennsylvanian which has 90-110mph capabilities.

Also adding a second round trip between Cincy-Indy-Chi that offers daytime arrivals and departures in Cincy would be a logical first step.

Alas all Ohio connection must involve Indiana. And aside from a vocal business group in Fort Wayne, the state is ho-hum on rail service.

CREATE status updates
 

Very good read on CREATE projects in Progressive RR Article.

And CREATE has updated their Construction Status Map.

^ Nice read.

Thanks for sharing

I think the only part of the Pennsylvanian that has 90-110mph capabilities is between Harrisburg and Philadelphia. McCormick Taylor did a corridor study for Pittsburgh to Harrisburg and they concluded that 90-to-110 mph was not feasible. Norfolk Southern owns the track, and there are only 3 tracks along much of the alignment. Plus, there are numerous curves in place. You could build tunnels, but you'd need several in order to have a more direct alignment between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg...

Believe me, I'd love to see Pittsburgh served by bullet trains. Traveling from Philly to Pittsburgh via a 150-plus mph bullet train would be awesome...

^ The Midwest Regional Rail Initiative (thread title) is a quasi government/public partnership advocating for "incremental" investment in existing infrastructure to advance HrSR (Higher Speed Rail). It is not the umbrella for True High Speed bullet trains.

The current capabilities of the Pennsylvanian match this program well. And the tie in to the Pennsylvanian is a natural connection for NY to CHI HrSR.

Would there be a need to connect say Cleveland to Pittsburgh? Idk if Traffic would warrant that and going the Empire way would be cheaper since its flatter.

^ Cleveland and Pittsburgh already have a connection on the Capitol Limited.
How does that improve Ohio service and specifically Columbus?

The Pennsylvanian operates at 125 mph from NYC to Philly with electric locomotives. There are longer range plans by Amtrak to upgrade the Eastern Keystone - Philly to Harrisburg - to 125 mph speeds. The current HSIPR stimulus funded project to close the last 3 remaining grade crossings on the Eastern Keystone will help clear the way for future 125 mph upgrades.

But since the Pennsylvanian switches to a P-42 diesel locomotive at 30th St Station, it would remain limited to 110 mph, until it someday gets a NextGen 125 mph capable diesel. However, for a PHL to Harrisburg train with multiple stops, the slower acceleration of the diesels mean minimal trip time improvements for a 125 mph max speed. The Keystones with ACS-64 electric locomotive in a few years would be able to make good use of 125 mph max speed segments.

In the Amtrak latest Vision for the NEC, it mentions a projected $1 billion to be spent for upgrades over the next 20 years on the Eastern Keystone. That may be enough for upgrades to > 125 mph speeds - maybe?. If Harrisburg to Philly has a true high speed train service, that over time should build support for extending high(er) speed service to Pittsburgh. The state legislatures from the Pittsburgh region will look at their fellow legislatures from the Philly area take higher speed trains home for the weekend and say "Hey, what about us? Why can't we do that?" Then they start pushing for serious upgrades between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.

BTW, there is a current Western Keystone Study underway that is looking at the options ranging from incremental to true HSR upgrades for the corridor. Should see documents and updates in the next few months.

That is why the Chi-StL and Chi-Det and the Empire Corridor & Eastern Keystone projects are so important. If the business leaders and politicians in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne see the two 110 mph Chicago hub corridors as successful, then an increasing number will advocate for corridor train service to their cities. Pittsburgh looks eastward for better service to Philly. Then Ohio (post Kasich era) gets into the act, and (in a couple of decades, give or take), there are 110 or 125 or faster corridor services reaching from NYC to Chicago. See, not that difficult. :cheers:

The article about Lansing's planned Transportation Center mentioned a commuter rail platform. Probably just sloppy journalism and they meant to say Amtrak.

Though you still have to ask yourself what the hell takes a couple of decades? If we were serious about modernizing our railways to a respectable level, and the political will was there, from an engineering perspective these goals specific to the Keytone corridor could be reached within 6-8 years, maybe sooner.

Hehe its not just the Keystone Corridor...but the whole Northeastern Division...that will be upgraded to 90-125mph+ ,although some corridors will be slower due to congestion and curves...

Lackawanna Cut-off - 195 Mi - 15 stations - Top Speed : 100mph - Electrified - Projected Daily Riders : 9,200
Lehigh Corridor - 170 Mi - 11 Stations - Top Speed : 100mph - Diesel - Projected Daily Riders : 17,400
Keystone Corridor - 104 Mi - 20 Stations - Top Speed (after 2025) : 135mph - Electrified - Projected Daily Riders by 2030 : 16,800
Downstate Delaware Corridor - 122 Mi - 12 Stations - Top Speed : 135mph - Electrified - Projected Daily Riders : 19,400
Northwest line - 86 Mi - 8 Stations - Top Speed : 90mph - Electrified - Projected Daily Riders : 14,800
Hudson Valley Empire Service - 159 Mi - 7 Stations - Top Speed : 125mph - Diesel - Projected Daily Riders by 2030 : 29,200
The Downeaster - 135 mi - 10 Stations - Top Speed : 125mph - Electrified by 2035 - Projected Daily Riders by 2030 : 14,200
Knowledge / Vermonter Corridor - 300 Mi - 20 Stations - Top Speed : 125mph - Electrified by 2035 - Projected Daily Riders by 2030 : 25,000
Virginia Railway Network - 610 Mi - 35 Stations - Top Speed : 135mph - Electrified by 2040 - Projected Daily Riders by 2030 : 95,300
Concord Corridor - 70 Mi - 8 Stations - Top Speed : 125mph - Electrified - Projected Daily Riders : 8,400
Cape Cod Service - 80 Mi - 11 Stations - Top Speed : 90mph - Electrified - Projected Daily Riders : 12,600
Cross England Express - 190 Mi - 9 Stations - Top Speed : 100mph - Electrified - Projected Daily Riders : 16,300