[nomarandlee]

most will not effect most here but some of those in Rockford might


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...l=chi-news-hed


Amtrak sees return of Rockford passenger trains

By Liam Ford
Tribune staff reporter
Published July 3, 2006, 8:12 PM CDT


ROCKFORD -- With momentum building to expand passenger rail service in Illinois, opening a train line between Chicago and Rockford is more a question of when than if, a senior Amtrak official said Monday.

A vote by legislators last spring to double funding for Amtrak's state-subsidized lines in the 2007 Illinois budget provides financial support to restore rail service that last ran in 1981, officials said.

"If you guys want the service, it's not, Should we do it? It is, What are the next steps we need to do to get it done?" Joe McHugh, Amtrak's senior vice president for governmental affairs, said after a town hall-style meeting at the Rockford airport of backers of reopening the route.

An analysis in late 2004 put the cost of creating a Metra line to Rockford at $89 million, with annual passenger ticket sales bringing in $1.6 million, still $1.7 million short of annual costs.

If Amtrak restarts the service, federal law requires it to make up any shortfalls in the cost of running the line with state subsidies.

Illinois Transportation Secretary Timothy Martin plans to move forward soon with a request to Amtrak to restart service.

Officials backing three competing plans to bring either Amtrak or Metra rail service to the Rockford area appeared ready Monday to let the two passenger railroads figure out the best way to move ahead.

The Black Hawk line once ran from Chicago to Elmhurst, then on to cities including Rockford, Galena and Dubuque, Iowa. Officials said Amtrak could use existing Canadian National tracks to restore service to Rockford.

Proposals for Metra service would either go to Rockford through Elgin and Belvidere or through DeKalb County and southern Winnebago County to the Rockford airport.

"We want to at least be able to put two or three options on the table, with everybody saying these appear to be the best—now let's test them against Amtrak standards and Metra standards and find out if they fit," said Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), who organized the meeting at the airport with Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-Ill.).

Officials from several counties and cities that might benefit from the service spoke at the meeting. Some who have been backing particular proposals said they would be willing to work with others to make it happen.

"This community is ready to help make all of your jobs easier," Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey said, adding that the competing plans should be brought under one umbrella.

"We've been in meetings before where everyone is decrying everyone else's proposal," McHugh said. "The fact that your folks understand the need for regionalism, and you've got to sort of get started somewhere, somehow, and you take steps, I think that's very mature and appropriate for this type of discussion."

Manzullo said bringing rail service back will help keep the Rockford area economically viable.

"I can't think of any item that would do more to invigorate economic growth and vitality and interest in making people want to not just continue to live in Rockford and invest, but to have their children stay here, than to have the railroad come to Rockford," he said.

lford@tribune.com