Durbin pushes plan to bring Amtrak to Q-C
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By Thomas Geyer | Saturday, January 27, 2007 |
With a multi-billion dollar bill to extend troubled Amtrak’s life through 2011 on the line, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., met with supporters and Quad-City community leaders Friday to tout a plan to bring rail service between the Quad-Cities and Chicago.
While nothing is set in stone — the bill, known as the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, still must go through the legislative process and be signed by President Bush — the area’s political leadership is hailing the bill as the best chance ever for getting train service for the Quad-Cities.
“We’ve been going to Washington for many years in pursuit of rail service for the Quad-Cities and we always came away empty,” Rock Island City Manager John Phillips said. “For years, the people there would just stare at us blankly, not giving us any indication that things would ever be different.”
Now, he said, it seems as though things are different, “and with Amtrak’s success in Illinois and elsewhere, federal lawmakers are taking a fresh look at things.”
Durbin, along with George Weber, chief of the passenger rail division of the Illinois Department of Transportation, or DOT, and Ray Lang, Amtrak’s senior director for governmental affairs, gave their ideas to a crowd of about 200 people during an hour-long meeting at Rock Island’s Abbey Station.
The rail investment bill more than doubles what Amtrak is getting now, Durbin said. He admitted that Amtrak has had its financial problems and that many in Congress over the past few years did not want to do much with the rail company that was often referred to as a boondoggle.
“But times have changed,” he said. There are 48 Amtrak trains running in Illinois, he added, and given that people want to conserve energy and reduce roadway congestion, rail makes sense.
Rockford and Peoria are seeking rail service, he said, “and we want to make sure the Quad-Cities is in the running.”
The rail bill currently totals $11.4 billion and includes matching funds for states.
Lang said that once Amtrak receives a request for a feasibility study from the Illinois DOT, the company will begin exploring the possibilities of getting rail to the Quad-Cities.
Key considerations of the study, he said, will include looking at demand for service and determining infrastructure needs.
“We’ll also have to build new stations and platforms and come up with equipment strategies,” Lang said. “We’ll also have to hire and train new employees.”
Because it has been so long since there was passenger rail service in the Quad-Cities, it will take a lot of capital to get the wheels rolling should a favorable decision be made, he said.
Amtrak’s goal is to double the number of riders nationwide by 2020, he said, adding that Amtrak is not looking at long-distance rail service. The company’s future is servicing corridors 300 to 500 miles.
He said Illinois is one of 14 states that have a rail service contract with Amtrak.
Durbin said that while it will take a lot of capital to begin, the rail bill provides funds that states can match, adding that he would like very much to see private investors get involved.
Pooling both public and private resources would help spread the cost.
While the investment will be large, everyone who spoke to Durbin, Lang and Weber, including representatives from Rock Island, Henry, Mercer and Knox counties in Illinois, and Scott County in Iowa, was adamant that there would be a return on the investment. They also said it would be good for the entire Quad-City region.
Scott Tunnicliff, president and chief executive officer of the Bettendorf Chamber of Commerce, said “on an issue like this, we are one team.”
He said the area offers Amtrak a large population from which to draw riders. He said the area also would win, given the fact that the train would stimulate economic development on many fronts.
Scott County Board Supervisor Larry Minard said it is time the Iowa Legislature looked at expanding rail service westward. But for now, rail service in the Quad-Cities would be a dream come true.
“To use an old cliché, the stars just may be aligned for us to get rail service to the area,” he said.
East Moline Mayor John Thodos said that although Amtrak has had its financial problems, perhaps these new plans will provide the train service a new lease on life with a much stronger financial future.
East Moline is about to be home to a new pork-processing facility, and passenger rail service would just add to the economic boon, he said.
“Galesburg and Princeton have rail service,” he said. “We’re an area of 400,000 people. You’d think this would be a profitable area in which to operate.”
Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com.
BY THE NUMBERS
Amtrak funding summary for six years through 2011:
Amtrak operating subsidy $3.3 billion
Amtrak capital grants $4.9 billion
State grants $1.4 billion
Existing Amtrak
debt $1.7 billion
Total $11.4 billion
Source: Summary of Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act
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