The Missouri Department of Transportation is applying for $200 million in federal stimulus funds for several projects to improve the Union Pacific tracks between Kansas City and St. Louis.  Proposed improvements include adding passing tracks and double tracking at frequent bottlenecks, digital information displays at all stations, and two brand new sets of locomotives and coaches.  The new train sets would be Spanish-designed Talgo trains similar to the Amtrak Cascades route in Oregon and Washington State.

All projects are designed to improve the reliability and punctuality of the service, allow trains to run faster across Missouri, and lay a foundation for future high speed service to Chicago. This is a competitive grant process, and competition is expected to be fierce.

As we mentioned last month, recent investments by the state and Union Pacific have dramatically improved on time performance, and if we get the federal money we could see even more progress.

More information from MoDOT.

KC Star article.