For months now there has been a heated debate in regards to high speed rail in Springfield, Illinois. There are many things that make this debate interesting. But the one point that can’t seem to sink into peoples minds is that they aren’t even debating high speed rail. If all the federal and state money gets spent on upgrading rails lines from Chicago to St. Louis. We will still only have passenger service that runs at 1960 – 70 speeds. Local citizens also can’t seem to grasp that it isn’t “high speed” rail they should be fighting. Even if no rail line upgrades get done for faster passenger service. The community will still see an increase in freight traffic. Let me say this again – you can scream about high speed rail being evil all you like. Increased train traffic will still be coming to your area. This is a guaranteed fact!
The current federal funding honestly is little more than a subsidy to help Union Pacific upgrade their track. A minor benefit of that will be that Amtrak passenger trains will be able to run at slightly faster speeds if these upgrades are done along the whole route. Springfield Illinois could be one of the cities along those tracks that holds up rail line improvements. Decades ago towns would fight to have a railroad coming through. In modern days at times you see the exact opposite. Towns want rail traffic reduced.
What we are seeing in this community is a lack of desire to change and advance. The United States has been lagging behind in regards to train technology for decades. Let me put it another way. The supposed greatest and most technologically advanced nation on the planet is traveling using upgraded 1800′s technology. The most frustrating thing about that is the general public doesn’t understand this to be a problem. If our nation actually built a true high speed rail system. A good majority of equipment and parts would have to come from foreign manufacturers? Why? Because like many other industries within our country modernization hasn’t been taken seriously. So we are no longer ahead of the curve and producing the latest technology.
So what scares Springfield about “high speed rail”? Traffic, noise, cost, vibration and destruction of the look and feel of the city from what I have read. Although I can’t recall one person being concerned about pollution. Keep in mind trains are less polluting than airplanes. Trains also serve more communities per route and transport more people and freight than planes or trucks. With passenger service traffic backup is slightly less compared to a freight train. Although many in our area would debate that when Amtrak is boarding passengers in Springfield. The fact is Amtrak trains aren’t anywhere near as long as their freight counterparts. So any concerns in regards to traffic congestion within the city should be aimed at freight trains.
Train noise is an issue currently. Years ago two rail lines near the Westchester subdivision were combined on a route next to I-72. One set of tracks later became the Wabash bike trail. The other set has no current use. But would make a nice bike path. When the two lines became consolidated there was no other neighborhood in that area. Where a sod farm use to grow now their is a subdivision. That neighborhood of course is directly affected by rail traffic noise. So is Westchester – even though rail lines aren’t located directly in that area anymore. The noise from the freight trains travels a good distance.
The situation is the same in Chatham, IL. Even though we live a good distance away from the rail lines. It isn’t unusual for someone in our house to hear Amtrak or a freight train coming through. My point is even those who live a decent distance away from tracks can be affected by the noise. The only way I can think of to reduce this would be to upgrade to a much more advanced train technology for passenger service. Current cost estimates for upgrading what we use now has people up in arms. For a much more advanced system the price would most likely cause a riot in this community.
