The Interurban Trail is a 4.75 miles (7.6 km) rail trail

Rail trail

A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...

 in Sangamon County

Sangamon County, Illinois

Sangamon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 197,465, which is an increase of 4.5% from 188,951 in 2000...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. It was built by the Illinois Department of Transportation

Illinois Department of Transportation

The Illinois Department of Transportation is a state agency in charge of state-maintained public roadways of the U.S. state of Illinois. In addition, IDOT provides funding for rail, public transit and airport projects and administers fuel tax and federal funding to local juridictions in the...

 (IDOT) and occupies an abandoned Illinois Terminal Railroad

Illinois Terminal Railroad

The Illinois Terminal Railroad, known as the Illinois Traction System until 1937, was a heavy duty interurban electric railroad with extensive passenger and freight business in central and southern Illinois from 1896 to 1982...

 interurban

Interurban

An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...

 corridor. It stretches from the south side of Springfield, Illinois

Springfield, Illinois

Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...

, to the center of Chatham, Illinois

Chatham, Illinois

Chatham is a village in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,500 as of the 2010 census. The village lies along the original alignment of historic U.S...

.

The trail parallels a Class I railroad

Class I railroad

A Class I railroad in the United States and Mexico, or a Class I rail carrier in Canada, is a large freight railroad company, as classified based on operating revenue.Smaller railroads are classified as Class II and Class III...

 mainline throughout its entire length. The main line, originally built by the Alton Railroad

Alton Railroad

The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago to Alton, Illinois, St. Louis, Missouri, and Kansas City, Missouri. Its predecessor, the Chicago and Alton Railroad , was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1931 and was controlled until 1942 when the Alton was...

, is currently operated by Union Pacific Railroad

Union Pacific Railroad

The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....

 and carries Lincoln Service passenger train service. The trail passes underneath Interstate 72

Interstate 72

Interstate 72 is an Interstate Highway in the midwestern United States. Its western terminus is in Hannibal, Missouri, at an intersection with U.S. Route 61; its eastern terminus is at Country Fair Drive in Champaign, Illinois. In 2006, the Illinois General Assembly dedicated all of Interstate 72...

 south of Springfield and crosses the southwestern arm of Lake Springfield

Lake Springfield

Lake Springfield is a 4,260 acre reservoir located in the city of Springfield, Illinois, southeast of downtown. It is 560 feet above sea level...

, the largest lake in Sangamon County. The arm is where Lick Creek

Lick Creek (Sangamon River tributary)

Lick Creek is a tributary of Lake Springfield and, thus, a tributary of the Sangamon River in central Illinois. It drains a large portion of southwestern Sangamon County and a marginal adjacent fragment of southeastern Morgan County. The drainage of Lick Creek includes all of Loami, Illinois and...

 enters the lake.

Population in the trail's Chatham service area is growing rapidly . Springfield is the county's employment center, and the Interurban Trail is available for use by bicycle

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

commuters who live in Sangamon County's southwest townships. The trail is managed by the Illinois Department of Transportation.