PING...please ping anyone else you think might be interested.
I ride this route every day, from Waukegan, Il, to Chicago, Il, and back again. There are roughly 30 trains each way every day, and they are usually packed.
http://metrarail.com/Sched/cnw_n/cnwn_wki.html The Metra system is one of the most successful extended mass transit systems in the US, if not in the world. This is not AMTRAK, and has nothing to do with it.
Why shouldn't they extend the route? It would certainly be just as successful, if not more so. I bet a bunch of people would use the Metra instead of driving if they were given the opportunity.