Sections:I. The gatewayII. Why did the Terminal close?III. SynergiesIV. Why Buffalo Central?V. What will it take?VI. Start with the Empire CorridorVII. Get a posterThe Buffalo Gateway Imagine Buffalo Central Terminal on a Friday evening in the not-so-distant future....
Progress Towards a New Amtrak Maintenance Yard in Chicago
Amtrak urgently needs a new maintenance facility in Chicago. The existing 14th Street Coach Yard is too small—and the shops are too out of date—to maintain modern rolling stock.
Amtrak has been working for several years to purchase Union Pacific’s Canal Street yard, which stretches from Archer to Pershing Road along Canal St. Until 2019, Canal St. was an intermodal yard, loading and unloading truck trailers on flat cars. It has been used for storage since then.
It is a great site for a new Amtrak yard.
The new yard will be a giant leap forward with five, climate-controlled, indoor tracks. Two will be long enough to service intact long-distance trains. Crews will be able to work under five trains at once and an overhead crane will allow crews to service any type of car or locomotive.
Finally, Midwestern passengers will be able to enjoy the safety, comfort, and reliability of integrated, modern trainsets.
We should celebrate that Amtrak has found a way to get the new yard built as quickly as possible.
In brief, here is what is in the works:
- Amtrak will buy the Union Pacific yard. Amtrak recently received federal grants to buy the yard and rebuild the viaducts over local streets.
- Amtrak will have the new maintenance shops built on the site by Canal Edge LLC.
- Amtrak will then sell the 14th Street Coach Yard to Canal Edge.
- Canal Edge intends to build a mixed-use development called “The Railyards” on the 14th Street Coach Yard site. Canal Edge has submitted a draft letter of interest to the Build America Bureau for a Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan.
The redevelopment of the 14th Street Coach Yard, and prospect of a new White Sox Stadium on the site, has garnered the most public attention and overshadowed the huge benefits that a modern yard will have for the city.
To be clear, the Alliance has supported the new maintenance facility on the Canal St. site since it was first discussed several years ago.
The Alliance has opposed the sale of the 14th Street Coach Yard because the capacity may be needed in the future. Additionally, the development may constrain the ability to expand trackage into Union Station. A similar stadium project development, just across the Chicago River, eliminated a planned improvement to Metra’s tracks into La Salle Street Station and foreclosed the possibility of a regional rail station at the site.
It is disappointing that part of the price of a new yard is giving up the existing yard, but it is price worth paying.
Alliance members we need to stay active to ensure that enough room is reserved for new, electrified tracks through the new development.
Overall, this is a great step forward for passenger rail across the country.
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