Durbin upbeat on high-speed rail in Illinois

Sen. Dick Durbin said July 23 that giving the Union Pacific Railroad $98.3 million in federal money for track improvements without an agreement in place to allow high-speed passenger rail is still a good idea, The Springfield, Ill., State Journal-Register reports.

"We’re going to get this
(high-speed rail project) done – there’s no question in my mind we will,"
Durbin said during a news conference at his Springfield office.

However, a deal announced
this week between Union Pacific and the Illinois Department of Transportation,
which will disburse the money to the railroad, does not obligate Union Pacific
to allow high-speed passenger trains. The money will be spent on concrete ties
and new rail on 90 miles of UP line between Alton and Springfield and between
the capital city and Lincoln. The agreement gives the railroad sole ownership
of the taxpayer-funded improvements.

Union Pacific and other
freight rail companies have balked at demands by the Federal Railroad
Administration that they either repay federal grants or fund additional
infrastructure improvements if high-speed passenger trains don’t run on time.

High-speed rail can’t go
forward without approval from railroads that own rights-of-way.

The issue has been
unresolved since May, when the FRA announced its intention to make financial
penalties a condition for giving grant money to states. That has stalled the
release of $8 billion in federal grants for high-speed rail announced in
January, including more than $1 billion in Illinois to establish a high-speed
link between Chicago and St. Louis.

Why not wait until the
issue of grant conditions is settled before paying for track improvements?

"I’m more positive and
optimistic than you may be," Durbin answered. "I’ve talked with (Union Pacific)
from the beginning, and they’ve been supportive (of high-speed rail). They want
to maintain a railroad that’s going to haul freight – that’s their first
obligation to their shareholders. So we need to work with them to work this
out."

The Senate’s No. 2 Democrat
said construction should start now so that people will have jobs.

"What I want to see, what
the governor wants to see, is putting people to work right now – good-paying
jobs right here at home – and put the investment in that rail corridor," Durbin
said.

However, under the
agreement between IDOT and Union Pacific, the railroad will supply the labor,
and there is no requirement that Union Pacific hire state residents, which
Durbin acknowledged.

"In terms of the jobs
created, I’m going to be a pain in the neck to folks at (Union Pacific) if they
start bringing in workers from other places," he said. "That’s not to say they
shouldn’t or couldn’t, but I’m going to be telling them we’ve got plenty of
skilled workers right here in Illinois, over 29 percent unemployment in the
construction trades. And for goodness sakes, help our own first. I want to help
our nation, don’t get me wrong. But first I want to help Illinois."

In announcing the $98.3-million
federal grant, Gov. Pat Quinn in a news release said the project "will create
hundreds of jobs."

According to the release,
the track improvements "will support more than 900 jobs."

But Brad Schaive, business
manager for Laborers Local 477 in Springfield, has said his office hasn’t
gotten a single call from anyone interested in hiring for the rail project.

John Webber, IDOT
spokesman, said the state relied on railroads to calculate the number of jobs
to be created. The nation’s biggest freight railroads, he said, figure that every
$1 million spent on construction creates nine jobs.

"It (the state’s job
figure) came from a study that those folks did," Webber said.