Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/freight-trains-face-burdensome-bottleneck-in-midwest Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript In the Midwest, Chicago has been a freight rail hub for 150 years. But now, traffic on Chicago's rails is even slower than traffic on its roads. As part of the Blueprint America series of reports on infrastructure, Rick Karr examines the U.S. freight train choke point. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JIM LEHRER: Now, another report in our infrastructure series, Blueprint America. Special correspondent Rick Karr looks at the fight over increasing railroad freight traffic. RICK KARR, Special Correspondent: Chicago-area drivers spend a lot of time waiting for freight trains. The region has more grade crossings, where roads cross tracks, than any other in the country, more than 1,900. It's a major hub for freight, but the average train crawls through the city at just nine miles an hour.So some Chicago-area residents have gotten used to having freight trains in their backyards. KATHERINE WORTHEN: That's the end. That's a short one, see? RICK KARR: Take Katherine Worthen, for example. She and her neighbors in suburban South Holland, Illinois, have learned to live with train congestion when they try to get around. KATHERINE WORTHEN: In a few minutes, we'll be at one of the major crossings here, where I refer to as the prayer spot, because often you just have to sit and wait patiently.People in the community have to navigate to either shop or to go to our community center for classes, for meetings, et cetera. Many times you have to plan your life around the trains.