CHICAGO — Amtrak is now offering high-speed service between Chicago and St. Louis that will take under five hours. 

Gov. JB Pritzker, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, and other federal, state, local and rail officials gathered at Chicago’s Union Station this morning to celebrate the start of 110 mph service along the route. 

What You Need To Know

  • Amtrak is now offering high-speed service between Chicago and St. Louis that will take under five hours. 

  • The train will travel at 110 mph

  • The $1.96 billion project also increased safety and reliability for passengers, upgraded station and built new stations like the one in Alton. 

  • New gates and loop detectors were installed at 212 crossings to help prevent collisions with vehicles on the tracks

"Most of the Amtrak trains that have traveled, historically, between Chicago and St. Louis have been well over 5.5 hours, we are knocking well over 30 to 35 minutes off the trip time,” said Ray Lange, Amtrak Vice President.

It’s not just faster service for the more than 13 million residents in communities along the route, but the $1.96 billion project also increased safety and reliability for passengers, upgraded station and built new stations like the one in Alton. 

New gates and loop detectors were installed at 212 crossings to help prevent collisions with vehicles on the tracks. There were also pedestrian gates and fencing added to protect people crossing tracks in several communities. Also, 39 at-risk crossings were permanently closed. 

Passengers can also expect a smoother ride due to new concrete ties along the route and improvements to bridges, culverts and signaling systems. The upgrades on the Union Pacific Railroad will benefit commercial and freight service. 

“Investments like these do more than just connect cities – they allow our residents to access opportunities beyond their immediate neighborhoods,” said Gov. Pritzker, who added the faster service is also "Creating jobs and shaping vibrant communities and connecting every corner of our state.”

Work is also underway for new locomotives and railcars throughout the Midwest. Thirty-three new locomotives have been in service since 2017. The new Charger locomotives result in a 90 percent reduction in emissions compared to the older locomotives. 

Illinois is also part of a consortium of states working to procure 88 new single-level railcars that are fully accessible for persons with disabilities for use in Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Michigan. More than 50 of the cars are currently in revenue service on Amtrak Midwest routes.

Lange said Amtrak already has high ridership between Chicago and Springfield, but then it drops off after that stop.

"We really think we will begin to penetrate that market in a meaningful way south of Springfield and really begin to compete with the aviation industry between St. Louis and Chicago,” said Lange.

The project was made possible due to $1.66 billion in federal funding, largely secured by Sen. Durbin from an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant in 2010. An addition$300 million came from state and non-federal funds. 

Work broke ground in 2010 with major infrastructure improvements done in 2018. I-DOT then worked with other partners between 2019 and 2023 to install and test a system that allows trains to increase their speed first to 90 mph, and now to 110 mph, while enabling technology to automatically stop a train before a collision.

You can find information on the new schedule or how to purchase tickets on amtrak.com.