The University system is large, spanning across the state of Illinois from Chicago to Springfield, with a quick stop in Urbana. For this system to collaborate and work well, administrators and professors are constantly traveling back and forth between campuses. 

Furthermore, many students are often traveling up north for job interviews and campus visitors are making the trek to us as well, often starting from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and then making their way down. 

In essence, there is a high amount of traveling and commuting that goes on at the University and having reliable and efficient transportation methods proves necessary.

The Office of Business and Financial Services, the University of Illinois at Chicago Office of Sustainability and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment are encouraging employees to take the Amtrak when making these trips, rather than driving a car. 

Because of the immense efficiency trains can provide for the University, we hope these various groups will continue to promote the use of Amtrak. 

Not only are employees given a discount for riding Amtrak, but they will help allow all the transit to be more environmentally friendly by riding the train instead of taking multiple cars back and forth. We commend the University for promoting this option and helping create a more environmentally friendly world for years to come, especially in conjunction with so many other green initiatives on campus.

Additionally, the University’s Rail Transportation and Engineering Center and the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Urban Transportation Center completed a study saying the creation of a high-speed rail would be costly, but feasible.

The study also indicated that high-speed trains could travel from downtown Chicago to Champaign in 45 minutes and Springfield in one hour and 20 minutes. For those of us from the suburbs of Chicago, that sure beats a two to three hour trek via bus or car. And this shorter travel time might hopefully encourage more visitors to attend our campus for lectures and speaking engagements, more University affiliates to travel between campuses, and more ease of access to Chicago for students who are on the job hunt.

We encourage the University to take this study of high-speed trains further and continue pushing for its implementation. With the University already supporting the use of trains, we would love to see it go one step further and promote the concept of a less time-consuming ride.