Betty,
You're just thinking locally though. Probably half to 2/3rds of all freight trains pass through Chicago. So while the small local town may not see an immediate benefit by improving this line, freight can now get to Chicago and those distribution points that you mentioned much faster and easier. And remember that Union Pacific moves large amounts of freight out of Los Angeles Port on its Sunset route to San Antonio. Those freights would then come up the line in question to Chicago where they might head to a distribution point for dispersal to the small towns.
The better & faster freight moves, the cheaper it is for the consumer. And the more freight that can be moved by train, the less impact on our roads and the less subsidies that our roads will need.
I remain firmly convinced that this is a good thing for everyone, including those in Illinois paying the bills. This line will help to prove to the many naysayers that one doesn't need the likes of Boston, NY City, Philly, and DC to have higher speed trains.
Additionally this will lead to further funding for this line, so as to increase the speeds on the northern end to benefit still more people.
Finally, please let me leave you with two other thoughts. One, this will see improvements made to some of the Illinois stations, which will benefit the locals. Two, part of the money being spent here is being spent on new cars. That alone is a huge benefit for the locals, having brand new modern cars.
