IDOT hosts information session on Chicago-Rockford rail service plan
The Illinois Department of Transportation hosted an informational meeting this week in Elgin to share plans to restart a 90-mile passenger rail service between Chicago and Rockford.
The proposed Chicago-to-Rockford Metra line will have two round trips daily, in the morning and evening. It will stop in Elgin, Huntley and Belvidere before getting to Rockford, ultimately connecting riders in Cook, Kane, McHenry, Boone and Winnebago counties.
The train will travel at a maximum of 79 miles per hour, taking two hours between Chicago and Rockford.
Scott Speegle, passenger rail communications manager for IDOT, explained some of the history behind the project during the meeting on Tuesday. He said Amtrak operated the route from 1974 to 1981.
He said the program was put on hold in 2015. Then in 2019, the Rebuild Illinois capital initiative committed $275 million to pay for the creation of the rail service to Rockford.
According to Speegle, Rockford is the biggest city in the state that does not have train service.
“Officials in Rockford have been strong advocates for getting train service out there,” Speegle said.
Preliminary engineering started in 2023 and continues. Construction is expected to begin in 2025 and finish in 2027 with the start of the service, according to the timeline.
Speegle said the stop in Elgin will likely use the station at 109 E. Chicago St., which will require improvements.
Also, a control point with universal crossovers will be added at the Bartlett Metra station.
Other work includes evaluating bridge conditions and enhancing grade crossing surfaces, highway approaches and warning devices.
“Because of the history … there’s some skepticism that it’s actually going to come to pass,” Speegle said. “It impacted one of the public meetings in Rockford last week. I told a gentleman, and he was like, ‘It’s never going to happen.’ I told him, ‘Come back next year, we’ll talk.’”
More information is available online at chicagotorockfordrail.org.