advertisement

---

Next month, the Illinois Department of Transportation and Union Pacific Railroad will start the first phase of 2012 construction on the Chicago-St. Louis high-speed rail corridor, beginning south of Springfield, Ill.

As the state advances corridor upgrades to eventually operate 110 mph trains, workers are installing new rail and concrete ties; upgrading bridges, culverts and drainage; installing and upgrading signal and wayside equipment; and improving grade crossings.

This is the last scheduled year of “large-scale” construction that will require Amtrak passengers to be detoured and board chartered motor coaches, according to a press release. Illinois DOT and Amtrak plan to begin previewing higher-speed trains between Dwight and Pontiac in September 2012.

Construction on the project began in 2010 north of Alton, Ill.