Faster Chicago – St Louis passenger trains introduced as Illinois route modernisation nears completion
https://www.railwaygazette.com/infrastructure/faster-chicago-st-louis-passenger-trains-introduced-as-illinois-route-modernisation-nears-completion/64417.article
Between downtown Chicago and downtown St Louis, it takes 4 and half hours by vehicle. So, even if Lincoln service connect both of the cities within 5 hours, rail transportation is still less competitive against road traffic.
I guess the drastic solution for making rail transport competitive against vehicle is to build high speed rail.
Judging from average speed, it will be possible to connect both of the cities nearly 2 hours.
