Railroads

Railroads. . The first passenger train came to Peoria in November 1854 on what became known as the Rock Island line. By 1920, Peoria had 15 railroads offering freight and passenger service from three railway stations and more than 100 trains a day through the city. Several railroads established major yards in East Peoria und also provided service to the coal mines, brick yards and factories here. In the 1940s Central Illinois had the largest electric train operation in the world – the Illinois Traction System., Its engines were powered by electricity delivered from overhead cables much like a trolleys and conducted down a pole that projected from the top of the engine to the overhead cable. The “Traction's” East Peoria passenger station was located at the site of today's RiverFront Conference Center and a public trail follows a portion of the former right-of-way. The “Traction” once had 550 miles of track connecting Peoria, Bloomington, Danville, Champaign and Springfield with St. Louis, and departed 14 passenger trains per day out of Peoria/East Peoria. For a brief time in 1980-81, Amtrak provided passenger service from East Peoria to Chicago.