For over a decade, the IDOT has pursued improvements to passenger rail service between Chicago and St. Louis. The Chicago - St. Louis Corridor is part of the Midwest Regional Rail System plan to develop and implement a 21st Century regional passenger rail system. In January 2003, the IDOT completed an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Chicago - St. Louis Corridor. The Preferred Alternative from the EIS included the provision of high-speed rail service, 110 miles per hour (mph), along the existing Chicago - St. Louis Amtrak route south of Dwight, Illinois. No action was proposed between Chicago and Dwight. The proposed service consisted of three round trips per day. A Record of Decision (ROD) was signed in January 2004.
Since the ROD, the IDOT has made significant progress on the Chicago and St. Louis Corridor in cooperation with the Union Pacific Railroad (UP), which owns the right-of-way south of Joliet and operates rail freight services in the corridor. The IDOT has coordinated the planning efforts with the Canadian National Railroad (CN), the owner and operator of the rail line between Joliet and downtown Chicago, which have involved subsidizing Amtrak operations and investing capital to upgrade UP and Amtrak facilities. Extensive rehabilitation of the Chicago-St. Louis corridor track and signal systems have been upgraded, and four quadrant gates installed at many grade crossings in the corridor. Total costs since the signing of the ROD have exceeded $110 million.