Lincoln service isn't the only one, but is the most conspicuous of the Stimulus projects.
I expect Lincoln Service to have continued construction disruptions, thank you IDOT for ***-backwards planning.
The others are mainly Cascades Seattle-Portland
Timing is working out nicely for these: the entire suite of upgrade projects, regardless of funding source, will come into service in 2017. 2018 should see a boom in riders *and* lower operating costs...
Wolverines Chicago-Kalamazoo-Ann Arbor-Detroit
Likewise, the full suite of planned speed improvements should be finished here by the end of 2017. Also, QLine (M-1 rail) will have opened. We should see a solid rise in passengers, although the continuing deterioration of Michigan's economy and loss of population will probably counteract that somewhat.
(Though the bottlenecks from Chicago to Detroit, across CN in Battle Creek, and on CN from just south of Detroit to Pontiac will still create unreliability.)
and the Piedmont route Raleigh-Charlotte. All will kick in during 2017.
The Piedmont improvements seem to be mostly done already. Raleigh Union Station should open late 2017, which will definitely help there.
Charlotte unfortunately lost out on the money and will have to wait some years to move its train station to downtown, which is still planned. With the under-construction streetcar extention, when it eventually does move downtown it'll be connected to the local urban rail system, though. So that's an improvement we can expect in the future (2020 or 2022 maybe?) -- when the station finally *does* move it should have a real boom in ridership thanks to the connectivity.
These aren't the only routes which should see increased ridership in 2018.
Over here on the Empire Corridor, the improvements to Albany-Rensselaer are almost finished, Niagara Falls has actually opened, the Albany-Schenectady double-tracking should be done next year, Rochester should open next year, but Schenectady is delayed. Schenectady has been split into two contracts. The plan is to open a temporary station before the end of 2016. The first contract will then do the heavy work on putting in a new high-level platform, elevator shaft, drainage, etc. now (along with asbestos and lead removal and demolition of the existing building), worrying about the new station building later.
Springfield, MA Union Station building should open in 2017, platform at an unknown date -- hopefully in 2018, since they're bidding now. The Hartford Line should also open in 2018, with Berlin, Meriden, and Wallingford stations opening in 2017.
