Illinois lawmakers back Chicago-to-St. Louis high-speed train
Written by jrood
Illinois lawmakers signaled their support for a 220-mph high-speed passenger train that could someday connect Chicago and St. Louis, The Quad-City Times reports. On May 5, the State Senate unanimously approved a resolution creating the Illinois and Midwest High-Speed Rail Commission, which will recommend ways to design, build and maintain the train route. Members of the commission will be appointed by the governor and lawmakers.
Proponents hope high-speed
rail will bring thousands of jobs to the state, as well as cut down travel time
between stops in Illinois.
Earlier in the week, mayors
from across the state circulated a letter to lawmakers showing their support
for high-speed rail. Michael McElroy, of Decatur, was among a handful of mayors
who signed the letter.
The mayors also are asking
Gov. Pat Quinn to allocate $10 million in capital construction funds to cover "engineering
and environmental studies" to help get the project up and running.
In January, Illinois was
awarded $1.2 billion from the federal government for a high-speed rail project
that would cut travel times on the route by about 90 minutes. The resolution
seeks to build on that program by pushing for even faster trains.
Rather than following the
current route that roughly parallels Interstate 55, the proposed 220-mph route
would go from St. Louis to Springfield, over to Decatur, then to Champaign and
up to Chicago.
