Midwest Cities Rail Transit + High Speed Rail Expanded

MAJOR CHANGES: GENERAL: - Chicago's rapid transit & regional rail systems would receive a comprehensive overhaul. - New Regional Rail Networks and comprehensive medium-capacity elevated metro networks (built on Innovia Metro technology) would be built in Detroit and Milwaukee. - Regional, Intercity, and High Speed Rail will be substantially expanded in the region. - A new universal fare system, "CorePass", would be introduced, which could be used on any rail service within this map. CHICAGO L: Red Line: - The line would absorb the south side elevated from the Green Line, which would in turn be structured to fit the Red Line's new service pattern. - The line would be subdivided into three services: Local, Express, and Semi-Fast. Green Line/Loop: - The Green line would be rerouted to Midway Airport, replacing the Orange Line. - The Green line would become the sole remaining key line in the Chicago Loop. Services bound Harlem/Lake would run on the eastern section of the loop, while services bound for Midway would run on the western section of the loop. - A shuttle would run clockwise around the loop at all times to fill the gaps. Orange Line: - The line would be rerouted through the State Street Subway and would replace the Purple Line north to Linden. Blue Line: - Clark/Lake would be rebuilt into a much larger transit hub (Metro Center). The expanded station would have 18 tracks total. The six subway platforms would include the existing tracks for the Blue Line, a new set perpendicular to the Blue Line for the (new) Orange Line, a third directly below the Orange Line platforms for the RER, and a fourth parallel to the Blue Line for the Pink Line. Pink Line: - The line would be re-routed into the new "Terminal Subway", then from there replace the Brown Line to Kimball. The line's opening, in conjunction with the Relief Subway, would render the connecting line between the NW El and the Chicago loop obsolete, resulting in its closure and demolition. New Lines: - Two new elevated lines (Teal & Silver) would be built to connect underserved neighborhoods and allow passengers to take the L across the city while avoiding the downtown core - All of the remaining elevated structures on the network (apart from the few being done away with altogether by new subways) would be replaced by new concrete structures, to allow for more cost-effective maintenance as well as faster and more reliable service. - Two new subways would be built to ease congestion on the existing network; The "Relief Subway" would be served by a new service known as the Orange Line (not to be confused with the existing Orange Line, which would be discontinued), which would then continue onto new elevated portions at its northern and southern ends. - The "Terminal Subway" would be served by a re-routed Pink Line. As its name implies, it would connect Union, Ogilvie, and Millennium stations. It would then snake north to the navy pier before reconnecting to the existing network at the southern end of the NW elevated. Services Discontinued: - Purple Line - Yellow Line - Brown Line - Orange Line (Midway/Loop) New Services: - Silver Line - Teal Line - Gold Line - Orange Line (Relief Subway) Stations Closed: - Merchandise Mart (Brown Line) - Chicago (Brown Line) COMMUTER RAIL: - Metra would be almost entirely phased out. Nearly all of its lines would be upgraded, electrified, and taken over by a new network known as "Regional Express Rail", or RER. The sole exception would be the Heritage Corridor, which would not only remain completely unchanged, but become the only major rail line in Chicago (and one of the few within the entire region) to not be part of CorePass' otherwise universal cross-honor system. - Several stations would be replaced by new interchange stations for easier transfers between lines. - Several new infill stations would be built. The most prominent of these would be four key "Interchange" station -- (Damen Interchange, Grand Crossing Interchange, Montrose Interchange, and Dan Ryan Interchange) - Three new Cross-City rail tunnels would be built to ease congestion on the four main terminal stations: The South Tunnel would run from McCormick Place to the northwest approach to Ogilvie station. The North Tunnel would run from a new low-level terminal at Millennium to a portal in the Western Ave Coach yard. As part of its construction, Van Buren St Station would permanently close and be replaced by a new underground station of the same name. The Central Tunnel would run from LaSalle Street Station through the center of Chicago before connecting with the North Tunnel just north of of the Merchandise Mart. - The centerpiece of this project would be the rebuilding of LaSalle Street Station into an underground terminus. This new station would have 20 platforms in total: The 2 existing Blue Line platforms 2 more subway platforms for the Orange Line 12 platforms at the Central Tunnel mezzanine (4 through for RER, 8 terminating for Amtrak) 4 platforms for RER at the South Tunnel Mezzanine - The South Shore Line would be incorporated into the RER and extended to Elkhart. INTERCITY: - The "Illini", "Illinois Zephyr", "Lincoln", and "Hiawatha" would all be electrified in their entirety and incorporated into the Chicago Farecard system. - The "Saluki" service would be folded into the "Illini", and all trains on that route would run under the former's name. The name, however, would be reused for a new service to St. Louis via Kankakee and Decatur. - The "Illinois Zephyr" and "Carl Sandburg" would be merged into a single service under the former's name - As part of the services’ electrification, to eliminate the awkward turnaround coming into Union Station, the “Illini” and “Saluki” would be rerouted to Millennium Station. - A new service from Chicago LaSalle Street would be inaugurated (The "Peoria Rocket"). The line would be electrified throughout. - LaSalle Street station would also be rebuilt as an underground terminus to accommodate one of the new Cross-City Tunnels - A new fully electrified service would be introduced to connect Chicago and Iowa City via Moline. The “Quad Cities” would run on overhead power to Davenport, then on diesel power from there west to Iowa City. - The "Wolverine" and "Blue Water" would be fully electrified. - The "Black Hawk" would be reintroduced and accompanied by a new service (The "Forest City"). The "Forest City" would be fully electrified, while the "Black Hawk" would use bi-mode locomotives and run with diesel haulage west of Rockford. Both services would terminate at Ogilvie Station. - A new Amtrak service would run between Ogilvie Station and Milwaukee via Kenosha. This would be known as the “North Shore 400”. - Wisconsin would be served by a series of new electrified rail services. The Borealis, because of its winding route with little potential for upgraded service, would be demoted to a secondary service and replaced by the Twin Cities 400 and Frozen Cheesehead on a route via Eau Claire as the main rail link between Chicago, Milwaukee, and the Twin Cities. However, The Borealis would still be fully electrified to avoid the need for a power changeover. - Using a mix of mass electrification of lines in the region and bolstered development from the construction of the high speed rail network, a new series of electrified services would operate between Chicago, Toledo, Cleveland, and Detroit. As part of the project, Amtrak would abandon its Lakefront station in Cleveland in favor of rebuilding and restoring passenger service to the city’s Union Terminal. HIGH SPEED RAIL: - A series of new high speed lines, mainly emanating out of Chicago, would be built to connect Springfield, St. Louis, Madison, Fort Wayne, Cleveland, Buffalo, Indianapolis, and Detroit (credit to Lucid Stew for inspiring parts of the rights-of-way). - The “Lincoln” and "Hiawatha" routes would be upgraded to accommodate speeds of up to 125 mph. As part of this, the Lincoln would be rerouted via the Rock Island District. The Hiawatha and Lincoln would be accompanied by a new continuous service, known as "Midwest Regional". The Hiawatha's name would be used for an Acela service. CLEVELAND RTA: - The Blue & Green Lines would be given separate running lines between East 55th & Tower City to deinterline it from the Red Line. - The Detroit-Superior Bridge Subway would be reactivated and used as the core of two new rapid transit lines (one of which would replace the HealthLine BRT) - Regular weekday service would be restored on the Waterfront Line. - A new regional rail network would be built using a mix of existing rail rights of way and sections of new track. - Lakefront Amtrak station would be demolished and replaced with a new, larger station on the same site (Lakefront Interchange). Said station would then serve as one of the two hubs of Cleveland’s Regional Rail network (the other being Union Terminal). OTHER: - An elevated monorail would be built in Lafayette, Indiana to connect its new high speed rail station to the city's downtown and Purdue University.