Economy

Metra, Chicagoland’s commuter rail, unveiled its new battery-powered trains which are expected to hit the rails in 2028. These trains are common throughout Europe, but Metra will be the first organization in North America to operate these innovative battery-powered trains.

From humble beginnings to hosting several of the world’s best automobile manufacturers, Illinois has had a major stake in the history of the auto industry as it has evolved throughout the years.

In the late 19th century the Chicago Times-Herald announced a $5,000 prize for a round-trip race between Chicago and Evanston in 1895. Despite a snowstorm that blanketed the area just days before, two cars managed to complete the race. This event, which also featured possibly the nation’s first auto show with 12 exhibited automobiles, marked the early days of Illinois’ history with automobiles.

As the 19th century drew to a close, a minimum of 22 local enterprises had been founded to fabricate horseless carriages, and a dozen of these successfully transitioned to full-scale production. Despite never surpassing Detroit as the foremost auto hub, Chicago emerged as a significant epicenter for automobile manufacturing, hosting 28 companies that collectively brought forth 68 distinct car models in the early 1900s.

The Chicago ‘L’ has been winding its way through the city’s alleys and rumbling past windows for well more than a century. For many Chicagoans, it’s part of everyday life. But it wasn’t always the system people know today – or even known by the same name.

The first L lines were privately owned and operated as separate companies.  In 1892, according to Chicago Transit Authority historian and expert Graham Garfield, who tracks the extensive history of the ‘L,’ the Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad began operating the first elevated train. A steam locomotive pulled wooden coaches between terminals at Congress Street and what is now Pershing Road. The tracks plotted a 3.6-mile line adjacent to alleys, so it was dubbed the ‘Alley L.’

NASA’s newest space telescope was recently launched into the atmosphere, and Illinois had a part to play in making that happen.

One of the scientists involved in building the telescope was an Urbana native, giving Illinois an interesting connection to the new space exploration tool.

TIME Magazine recently released its inaugural ranking of the top 80 startup incubators and accelerators in the United States, which included The Garage at Northwestern University.

The Garage was ranked No. 5 on TIME Magazine’s list, behind New York’s TechStars, Massachusetts’ MassChallenge, Florida’s Tampa Bay Wave and California’s Y Combinator. The list included six organizations that are headquartered in Illinois, with The Garage being the highest-ranked of them. The other Illinois-headquartered organizations that were included on TIME Magazine’s list are The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (No. 7), mHUB (No. 14), the University of Illinois Research Park (No. 27), MATTER (No. 61) and 1871 (No. 63).