Amtrak line from Chicago to St. Louis would be target for stimulus
By Jason Nevel
jason.nevel@lee.net
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SPRINGFIELD -- The Amtrak line from Chicago to St. Louis would be a central target for some of the $8 billion allocated for high-speed rail in the federal economic stimulus package, Illinois Department of Transportation officials said Wednesday.
“Most of that money is going to be for federally designated high-speed rail corridors, which there are three in Illinois with Chicago to St. Louis being the big one,” said George Weber, who heads the railroad division at IDOT.
The other Illinois-based rail lines designated for high-speed trains are from Chicago to Detroit and Chicago to Milwaukee.
With Normal being one of the stops on the Amtrak route from Chicago to St. Louis, state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, said the extra money could result in more riders, who would see reduced travel times on the route.
“It’s … going to be able to enhance not only their time schedule but ridership,” Brady said. “It will be something positive for the Normal transportation center where the train station is in my district.”
The town is seeking $10 million for the center that would accommodate train, bus and taxi service on land along Beaufort Street just west of the Children’s Discovery Museum. Normal already has received $10 million in federal funding for the $24.6 million project.
Those rail routes are not the only projects IDOT sent to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which will decide in 60 days how much money Illinois will receive for high-speed rail.
Weber said a new route from Chicago to Rock Island and additional Chicago-to-Carbondale service would be contenders for federal funds.
Rick Harnish, president of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association said the number of Illinoisans in Washington, D.C., could factor in to how much money Illinois gets. Not only is the president from Chicago, but U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Springfield is the No. 2 man in the Senate. President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel is from Chicago and the secretary of transportation, Ray LaHood, is from Peoria.
“It will probably have an impact,” Harnish said.