The Illinois Department of Transportation has announced its choice of a proposed route for Amtrak's new Chicago-Rockford-Dubuque line, which is slated to begin service in 2014.
Trains on the route are trains are expected to run at least one round-trip daily between Chicago and Dubuque with stops in Elgin, Genoa, Rockford, and Galena.
Another proposal was for a northern route that would have run through Belvidere, Huntley and Marengo in McHenry County, but the department says a study found using the Elgin-Genoa route would be
less expensive and draw more passengers.
The Chicago Tribune says the choice was based on an independent study by the Decatur office of URS Corp., which showed that the southern route would have fewer delays and be cheaper to construct than the proposed northern route.
