All about Joliet Union Station - brought to you by the Blackhawk Chapter of the NRHS

The Future of Joliet Union Station

With the current Presidential administration and Congress talking about the development of a high-speed Chicago-to-St. Louis passenger rail corridor and the continuing efforts to revitalize Joliet's downtown area, a few proposals have been developed for the future of the station.

As currently configured, Joliet Union Station has a few problems: Metra controls UD tower, the interlocking for the crossing. Therefore, Metra trains get preference over freights, including those on BNSF's busy “Transcon” -- the former Santa Fe. It is not uncommon to see hot intermodal trains from both directions waiting for Metra-Rock Island trains to cross the BNSF or waiting for passengers on Metra-Heritage Corridor and Amtrak trains to load or disembark. Because Amtrak trains do not board from the platform, the one long-distance train, the Texas Eagle, does not handle checked baggage at Joliet.

Passengers waiting to board Amtrak's "Texas Eagle"

One idea, put forward by the Midwest High Speed Rail Association as part of a proposal for the incremental development of Chicago-to-St. Louis high-speed passenger service, would decrease station dwell time by removing the existing passenger platform between the BNSF tracks, realigning tracks two and three and building a new passenger platform between tracks three and four. Like the station's original configuration, this new platform would be reached by stairs and an elevator from a tunnel underneath and eliminate the need for passengers to walk across the busy BNSF tracks.

Another proposal, is the Joliet Regional Mult-Modal Transportation Center, part of a plan to redevelop the downtown area. It would be located in the southwest quadrant of the crossing, across the former Rock Island tracks from the current station, and would be a state-of-the-art, enviromentally-friendly, multi-modal facility serving intercity and commuter rail, intercity and local bus, taxi and paratransit.

The conceptual drawings show the historic Union Station building still existing, but not as a passenger station. This plan overcomes the shortcoming of earlier plans by moving the passenger platforms to positions that do not interfere with traffic on the BNSF mainline. The plan also shows the demolition of UD tower, one of the last interlocking towers in the Chicagoland area, and expansive glass canopies covering the passenger platforms and tracks, providing all-weather access for the passengers, but severely restricting photography.

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