Amtrak Service to Galena, IL?? - Trains Magazine
CG9602
Well, Amtrak had service for several years after its inception, until 1981. The train was the "Black Hawk," and was a victim of the Carter Administration mandated reductions in service. I seem to recall that poor timekeeping was an issue, as was low ridership. In order to start service I have to ask what the market would be, and how this train would serve the public good. Chicago to Dubuque was a small market when the train operated, so perhaps any new service would have to extend to Waterloo, IA.
Market is the key; and I think Amtrak fudged the figures.
One part of marketing is speed. Track was in bad shape back then. The 18 miles to an obscure Elmhurst stop was carded for :37 minutes (29 mph), and 86 miles to Rockford was scheduled for 1:51 (36 mph west of Elmhurst) in 1981. The CN is in somewhat better shape today - don't want to spill any ethanol(!); but still has a lot of 115# jointed rail that the railroad would replace (and not charge the State?) for an Amtrak service.
Speed is severely limited by curvature getting in and out of the Mississippi valley winding through the coulees. With the other occasional restrictive curves, tilting trains would be quite effective.
Another factor is access. Northlake-Franklin Park, Elmhurst-Addison and Oakbrook-Yorktown, aren't much bigger as employment/business destinations today than they were back then - the first two of which were close to the Milwaukee West. However, the train stop was in a local neighborhood commercial area away from main roads that developed with the CA&E which was long-gone by then. There was very little, if any, parking and no land for expansion; and the UPW Metra station is over a mile away. What few local Pace services there are in the western suburbs may connect with Metra; but they rarely come close to the CN. There was no stop in South Elgin; and today you would need additional stops in the vicinity of the former IC stations at Cloverdale (near Stratford Square) and Swift (Glendale Heights/I-355) comparable to stops at the MDW Itasca and Hanover Park I would recommend.
A lot of traffic goes between Chicago and Rockford, population 157,272 (339,178 metro area); and it's safe to assume a train might divert a good deal of it. Freeport is a city of 26,443, Galena only 3,396, Dubuque 57,250, and Waterloo 66,662. I agree there's hope that a train would boost tourism for Galena and Dubuque, and gambling at the riverboat casino in Dubuque.
The economy is another factor. Rockford lost a lot of manufacturing jobs; and people have no one to sell their home to in order to move to a new job. This is where the commuter service comes in to reach jobs in the northwest suburbs.
