Illinois governor derails Genoa’s dreams for Amtrak

An unexpected about-face on the route to be used for new Chicago-Dubuque Amtrak train service leaves Genoa- and South Elgin-area leaders feeling bewildered, the Elgin Courier-News reports. But the decision makes it more likely that a new Metra commuter service could be set up in coming years from Elgin through Gilberts and Huntley to Belvidere and Rockford.

Government and chamber of
commerce leaders from Genoa, DeKalb, Sycamore and DeKalb County had engaged in
a passionate lobbying battle last fall against their counterparts in Belvidere,
Rockford, Boone County and Winnebago County. The stakes involved which route
the proposed Amtrak service should take between Chicago and Rockford.

The Genoa-DeKalb group
wanted the once-daily-in-each-direction train to follow a Canadian National
line, with stops in South Elgin and Genoa. The Belvidere-Rockford leaders
favored using Metra’s Milwaukee West line and a Union Pacific line, with stops
in Bensenville and Belvidere. A train on the latter route would pass through
Elgin but, according to preliminary plans, would not stop in Elgin.

The Illinois Department of
Transportation at first applied for a federal stimulus grant to fund the track
changes and any station construction needed. When the deadline to apply for
that grant came last October and the two sides were still arguing, IDOT Bureau
of Railroads chief George Weber decided to specify on the grant application
that the train would follow the South Elgin-Genoa route. That’s because a 2007
study that Amtrak conducted of possible routes had concluded that the South
Elgin-Genoa route would be cheaper and attract more riders.

Even after federal
officials turned down the grant request this past winter, Genoa and South Elgin
officials remained confident that the state had decided in their favor. So they
were shocked March 29 when Gov. Pat Quinn, making a campaign stop in Rockford,
told a crowd there that "I believe in rail, and we’re going to have
passenger rail from Chicago through Belvidere, through Rockford and on to
Dubuque," according to a Rockford newspaper account.

"The route was picked,
I believe, last week by the Illinois Department of Transportation," Quinn
reportedly told a Rockford reporter. He reportedly said the Union Pacific would
be brought up to Amtrak’s requirements with $60 million carved out of the
state’s capital funds budget.

IDOT’s Weber could not be
reached for comment. But IDOT spokeswoman Marisa Kollias confirmed that the
Amtrak route will go through Elgin and Belvidere, not South Elgin and Genoa. However,
while Quinn reportedly had said it was IDOT officials who had decided on the
change, Kollias said that "the governor made the decision, and we support
the governor’s decision."

Genoa Village Administrator
Joe Misurelli said that his city was never officially notified about the new
route decision. "We call the governor’s office, and they say to call IDOT.
We call IDOT, and they say to call the governor’s office."

"We’ll keep working on
this," Misurelli said. "The Canadian National route would have at
least 600,000 more people living within 15 miles of its stations. Amtrak’s own
study says it would be the cheapest and fastest to put into operation and would
be the cheapest to operate.

Amtrak spokesman Marc
Magliari said that because the state will be paying the bills for track
upgrades and a yearly operating subsidy, Amtrak will run the train on whatever
route the state wants. He said it also would be up to state officials to figure
out how soon the construction can begin.

Many of the track, signal
and station improvements needed for Amtrak to use the Metra Union Pacific West route
also would be needed if Metra would start a long-discussed commuter service
from Elgin through Gilberts and Huntley to Belvidere and Rockford. Both
Dubuque-bound Amtrak trains and any Rockford-bound commuter trains would follow
the Metra-owned Milwaukee District West commuter line from Union Station to
just beyond the Big Timber station in Elgin. Then they would cross onto the
one-track Union Pacific line that parallels the Metra line there and would
follow the Union Pacific line through Gilberts and Huntley to Belvidere and Rockford.

To do that, a new
connecting track would have to be built in Elgin between the Metra line and the
Union Pacific line. The Union Pacific line also would need to add signals,
sidings to enable oncoming trains to pass each other, new track in some areas
and some new stations. But if all those items were installed to handle the
Amtrak service now, they would already be in existence when and if Boone and
Winnebago County join the Regional Transportation Authority and Metra decides
to start Rockford commuter service.