I suspect a reasonable chunk of the problem goes back to how the system was built in the first place - elevated trains and buildings right up against the tracks. It makes it hard to expand the system, since no one wants to approve new tracks in their backyard.
My, my, aren’t you quite the little princess. What, pray tell, do you consider a “hick town downstate”? Anything south of I-80? south of 87th St? or is it anything south of Wrigley Field? :dubious: