ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Taking the train from St. Louis to Chicago just got a little more interesting.

Within the past week, Amtrak unveiled a fifteen mile segment of high-speed rail north of Bloomington, Illinois.

Spokesman Marc Magliari says the 110-mile-per-hour travel is getting rave reviews, “Talking to our crews who’ve been talking to passengers, they love it! Especially looking out a window and seeing cars getting passed on Interstate 55.”

Magliari says the goal of Amtrak and the Illinois Department of Transportation is to have 75% of the route between Chicago and St. Louis cleared for high-speed travel within the next three years.

That would mean an hour less time spent on the train for passengers.

He says to look for another big change near the end of that span, “The rail cars we use here in Missouri and Illinois will be replaced with new double-decker cars with built-in WiFi and more amenities.”

During the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, Amtrak expects more than 725,000 to ride its trains, making it the busiest travel period of the year for U.S. passenger rail.