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Senators ask Amtrak to get rail cars ready for Q-C route

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By Ed Tibbetts | Tuesday, May 27, 2008 |

Iowa and Illinois lawmakers are asking that Amtrak move quickly to prepare rail cars in the event Amtrak connections between Chicago and Iowa are built.

U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Barack Obama, D-Ill., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, made the request in a letter dated Tuesday.

Rail advocates are seeking funds for high-speed rail connections between Chicago and Iowa City through the Quad-Cities and also from Chicago to Dubuque.

There still is significant progress to be made getting funding for railway improvements, but officials say they think they can get the process moving to rehabilitate train cars, or what is called rolling stock.

“To accommodate the expected boom in ridership ... we want to ensure that we have the absolute best rolling stock available,” the senators said in a letter to Amtrak Chief Executive Officer Alexander Kummant.

An Amtrak feasibility study in January said the supply of rolling stock is limited and train sets for the new lines would likely have to come from its inventory. The cost and time needed for repairing rail cars is significant, however.

The feasibility study estimated the cost of rail cars for the Chicago to Quad-Cities route at $4.2 million.

Paul Rumler, executive director of the Quad-Cities Passenger Rail Coalition, said Tuesday the letter is a sign the congressional delegation is being proactive.

“It’s one of the question marks out there that was identified in the feasibility study,” he said.

Durbin, who was in the Quad-Cities on Tuesday, said the idea is to get Amtrak to pick up the cost for repairing the rail cars, which are in storage in Delaware.

“These are trains that have been used in the past, not currently being used,” Durbin said. “We know where we want them. We want them in Illinois.”

Marc Magliari, a spokesman for Amtrak, said the letter would be taken under advisement but usually such costs are paid for by the state.

The Amtrak feasibility study put the cost of track upgrades for 79-mph service between Chicago and the Quad-Cities at $22.7 million and $32.5 million for similar service from here to Iowa City.

Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at (563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com.