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Could fast trains unclog O''Hare? Debate swirls around funding, functionality of high-speed rail.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Robert McCoppin Daily Herald Staff Writer

Recent tests of high-speed rail in Illinois have given new hope that trains could offer suburban residents a transportation alternative to O'Hare International Airport.

High-speed trains, advocates say, could offer competitive service to medium-distance Midwest cities like St. Louis, Detroit and Minneapolis.

As proposed, faster trains could make a stop in the northern suburbs, such as Glenview or Deerfield, and go to Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, giving travelers another alternative to O'Hare.

Some advocates say high-speed rail could even offer a cheaper alternative to expanding O'Hare or building a new airport in far south suburban Peotone.

But at a time when Amtrak can barely get funding to keep operating, critics say a proposed $4 billion plan to build high- speed rail across nine Midwestern states is pie-in-the-sky dreaming.

To them, the proposed rail network is a boondoggle because it tries to cover too much ground with a medium-speed product. Rather than build a more expensive mini-Amtrak, they say, it would be better to start with one truly high-speed rail line.

The debate may be decided in the coming year. Congress will be voting on funding for Amtrak, which is the likely candidate to run high-speed rail.

Lawmakers also will vote on T-3, a multiyear, multibillion- dollar transportation funding bill.

But first, proponents of high-speed rail will have to make the case for it in...