The potential for high-speed rail in the United States has piqued the interest of Illinois lawmakers, who are calling for a new line between Chicago and St. Louis.
Combining cities in Illinois and Missouri could provide a less polluting form of transportation that would also be faster.
As reported by Newsweek, in an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Rep. Mike Quigley believes that investments in transportation infrastructure could allow trips that normally take about five hours by car to be completed in about half the time.
“Two and a half hours,” Quigley wrote in the Tribune, “with new high-speed rail infrastructure, you could travel from Chicago to St. Louis that quickly, cutting travel time by nearly half and saving millions of passengers something money can't buy: time.”
The United States lags behind many countries when it comes to high-speed rail options. This mode of transportation is much greener than dirty-fuel cars or short-distance flights, making it urgent to fully adopt this technology to reduce the pollution that is contributing to rising temperatures around the world.
Not only do high-speed rail emit significantly fewer global-warming pollutants than gas-guzzling cars and aviation-fuel-dependent planes, but it's also far more efficient for passengers — and getting on and off a train is much easier than going through notoriously slow airport security checks.
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Additionally, using a laptop or reading while on the train is a great way to spend time for train travelers, but is not possible when driving a car.
“The Midwest has an ideal geographic location for building an efficient passenger rail network, with many major cities within a day's drive,” Quigley continued.
“This network can connect people and economies in a safe, efficient and environmentally friendly way. To achieve this, we need to take steps now to invest in our high-speed rail future while improving our current passenger rail network.”
Florida's Brightline high-speed rail service is already gaining fans, and is expected to carry more than 2 million passengers in 2023 alone.
This success is expected to be replicated in the West, where construction has begun on a new high-speed rail line linking Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
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