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The State of Illinois has told the Federal Railroad Administration that it is moving forward with the Chicago to Quad-Cities passenger rail project, an official said Tuesday.
The decision may well keep in place $177 million in federal funding that was awarded in 2010 for the connection, but that will be up to the Federal Railroad Administration, which had said the grant would expire June 30. Local officials have been lobbying Gov. Bruce Rauner to ask for an extension.
“The Illinois Department of Transportation has informed the Federal Railroad Administration that it will be proceeding with the proposal to reintroduce passenger rail service between Chicago and Moline. As we move forward, we remain strongly committed to looking out for the best interest of all Illinois taxpayers,” Guy Tridgell, a spokesman for the Illinois DOT wrote in an email Tuesday morning.
The state’s initial match for the grant amounts to $45 million, and in the midst of the budget impasse, the governor’s office only has recently said that the project is under review.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 11:58 am
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An act of sheer genius. Guessin’ the $ is in the Stop Gap so money should be flowin’ pronto.
Comment by Annonin' Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:03 pm
That collectivist train travel has got to go, but I’ll throw a bone to the commies here, as a show of good faith.
Comment by PublicServant Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:05 pm
I question everything Rauner does these days. Which one of his friends makes money off this?
Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:08 pm
Would the QC chamber matter enough for this RNUG
Comment by illinois manufacturer Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:12 pm
What a boondoggle! Apparently the author didn’t think stating the latest estimated cost of the project will be, how much funding in addition to the $45 million the state will need to cough up, and why a rail run from Chicago makes any operational sense at all. Who will be forced to pay to maintain the route? Who will fund the train subsidy? Will the state need to sell bonds at ridiculous rates to fund construction?
Just about the only rail investment that makes any sense is commuter rail….sometimes.
Who’s complaining that driving, flying or taking a greyhound to the Quad Cities isn’t meeting demand today?
Once the nukes close down, there’ll be even less reason to go there.
Comment by Illinois Bob Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:16 pm
I don’t think the state nor the FRA have a clue as to the astronomical sum of money they will need to put that line back into passenger service. Perhaps enough connected people are making $$$ off the studies for it to be continuously strung along.
Comment by train111 Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:17 pm
Once a federal grant expires, it has to be re-applied for and hoops have to be jumped through with no guarantee the grant will be approved. The proper thing for the state to do would be DON’T LET THE ORIGINAL GRANT EXPIRE!!
Comment by DuPage Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:22 pm
That’s awesome. Good for Team Rauner. And thanks to Congressman Bustos for beating the drum on it. Great news.
Comment by Dan Johnson Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:23 pm
Find myself agreeing with Illinois Bob. As self driving catacombs into use, the value of interurban rail will drop.
Comment by Last Bull Moose Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:43 pm
=== As self driving===
Oh, please.
Those cars are decades off. Rolls Royce, owned by BMW, says its self-drivers won’t be done until at least the 2040s. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/06/18/behold-rolls-royces-truly-bizarre-self-driving-car/
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:45 pm
Too bad IDOT doesn’t have a budget to pay it’s share of the federal grant. All that money and no place to spend it.
Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:45 pm
@illinois bob:
Do you even have any clue how roads are paid for? Speaking of collectivst, socialist, communist, boondoggles.
Comment by Delbert Grady Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:47 pm
$45 million in State funds leveraging $177 in federal funds.
That kind of leveraging makes some sense. As opposed to holding hostages to leverage non budget items.
If only Governor Businessman would look outside his tunnel.
Comment by Sir Reel Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:52 pm
What about the projected train to Rockford, Galena and Dubuque? Sure would perk up those areas, economically.
Comment by Fr. Murphy Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:54 pm
Good news? I wouldn’t call wasting taxpayer dollars on subsidized rail travel that nobody will use, Good News.
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:54 pm
“$45 million in State funds leveraging $177 in federal funds.”
Great! Let’s waste all American’s tax dollars, not just Illinoisan’s!
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 12:57 pm
Self driving cars may be further out than I expect. Still, what is the time frame for valuing the rail project?
Comment by Last Bull Moose Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 1:01 pm
Its only pork when its in someone elses state.
Comment by blue dog dem Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 1:02 pm
——-Oh, please.
Those cars are decades off. Rolls Royce, owned by BMW, says its self-drivers won’t be done until at least the 2040s. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/06/18/behold-rolls-royces-truly-bizarre-self-driving-car/
———
It will take that long to get the rail service operational.
Comment by Doug Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 1:05 pm
So how does this $45 million help balance the budget?
Comment by Say It Ain't So!!! Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 1:11 pm
Anon, the $177 in federal funds will be spent somewhere. Why not Illinois, where it will help our economy?
Illinois is a net exporter of federal funds. According to your logic, we should continue that trend.
Comment by Sir Reel Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 1:25 pm
1. Don’t believe the naysayers. Self-Driving cars are right around the corner, and I wouldn’t count out a self-driving Tesla by 2020; they already have auto-pilot as an option that keeps the wheels on the road without the driver steering. The technology is moving faster than the regulations that will be needed to keep up with them. THAT will probably be where the “delay” happens. What is off in the more-distant future is “connected” vehicles that are wired to a network that can program them to drive at fast speeds, basically bumper-to-bumper, and will help alleviate congestion without having to build any more road lanes.
2. Most of the Chicago-Quad Cities route already serves Amtrak traffic (the BNSF portion from Chicago to Wyanet); it will take some doing to get the Wyanet to Moline section up to speed, but not insurmountable.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 1:46 pm
===Self-Driving cars are right around the corner===
Right.
Says who?
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 1:47 pm
“What about the projected train to Rockford, Galena and Dubuque?”
Have you ever set foot in Galena or Dubuque? It’s all hills up and down. How are you going to run train tracks over that type of grade, and why? So yuppies can buy knick knacks on the weekends?
Ridiculous and unnecessary waste of dollars and destruction of farmland. Quad Cities rail line makes some sense.
Comment by Payback Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 2:28 pm
Good news for the Quad Cities and the region … U.S. Senator Dick Durbin has made this a top priority for several years and must have
done some good work behind the scenes …
Comment by Downstate Dem Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 2:33 pm
=Do you even have any clue how roads are paid for? Speaking of collectivst, socialist, communist, boondoggles.=
Yep. Motor fuels taxes, gas sales taxes, bonds and Federal debt. That is, when the state doesn’t “sweep” the funds because they tell us they don’t need the money for roads, they need it to give raises and expand the patronage army in Illinois….
Comment by Illinois bob Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 2:36 pm
==they need it to give raises and expand the patronage army in Illinois….==
You do nothing but moan and complain about salaries. How about you let us all know what salaries you would approve for each job? I mean, you must have an idea since you seem to think that anyone and everyone is overpaid. I’d love to see the list.
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 2:45 pm
Excellent news!
Comment by Biker Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 3:02 pm
Illinois government spending is being crowded out to cover unfairly protected retirement benefits. Most entities cut those when there isn’t enough money. My parents received no increase in SSI this year. My wife got no raise.
In Illinois, all must bow to the unions and Madigan.
Comment by Ron Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 3:04 pm
==to cover unfairly protected retirement benefits==
Sometimes Constitution’s are inconvenient aren’t they?
You continue to act like a petulant child. “That’s unfair!” Grow up.
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 3:12 pm
I would be gappy with some night vision or collision alert….I had a bad encounter with a deer last year and would like to avoid the raccoons as well….and poorly lit rural intersections.
Comment by illinois manufacturer Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 3:21 pm
== Have you ever set foot in Galena or Dubuque? It’s all hills up and down. How are you going to run train tracks over that type of grade, and why?
Galena used to be served by Illinois Central, Burlington and CNW. It’s still served by CN’s line from Chicago through Dubuque. Dubuque is still served by 3 lines and used to be served by at least one more.
Comment by Curmudgeon Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 3:36 pm
===Self-Driving cars are right around the corner===
Right.
Says who?
Lots of sources. Here’s an oft-cited one.
http://orfe.princeton.edu/~alaink/SmartDrivingCars/PDFs/Nov2013MORGAN-STANLEY-BLUE-PAPER-AUTONOMOUS-CARS%EF%BC%9A-SELF-DRIVING-THE-NEW-AUTO-INDUSTRY-PARADIGM.pdf
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 4:53 pm
===Here’s an oft-cited one.===
By a company that doesn’t actually make cars, or tech.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 5:01 pm
Six, the study says two decades to implementation, or about what Rich said above. Besides, who is gonna open the door and manage the Grey Poupon in an R2D2 Rolls?
Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 5:04 pm
Rich, let’s bookmark this thread and hopefully revisit it in 10 years to see what actually happened.
The buzz in the industry is that it is happening way faster than we thought, and very little long range planning (or even short-range planning) is being done to brace for the intended and unintended consequences. Like electric vehicles, it will take awhile for autonomous vehicles to penetrate the market, but there will be a tipping point where the game has changed where everybody notices. This has trillion dollar implications for everything from rural transit to freight to taxi/Uber/Lyft service, more disruptive than even a governor and a GA who can’t pass a budget.
LOL, I loved the old Grey Poupon commercials.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 5:21 pm
Six, the study says two decades to implementation,
If you call 100% market penetration “implementation”. If only 10% of the fleet were self-driving, and especially if you could summon a car you didn’t own whenever you needed one, and could sleep during the ride, I would bet that more than one or 2 CapFax readers would make the call.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 5:31 pm
See IDOT article, above. (I don’t post often so please don’t flay me)
Comment by Illini Law Tuesday, Jun 21, 16 @ 5:55 pm