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Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced it awarded more than $186 million to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to advance construction on the Chicago-St. Louis high-speed rail corridor.

IDOT will use the funds to extend construction of the corridor north to Joliet, enabling trains to operate at speeds up to 110 mph along nearly 70 percent of the route, according to USDOT.

Construction is under way on the Chicago-St. Louis corridor, and work on the extension to Joliet is scheduled to begin in spring. Once construction is complete, trip times are expected to be reduced by more than an hour.

Ridership along the corridor has increased 137 percent during the past five years. The state plans to add more frequent trips and further reduce trip times in the future, USDOT said.