Quad Cities (Amtrak train)
| Overview | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service type | Inter-city rail | ||||
| Status | Proposed | ||||
| Locale | Illinois | ||||
| Current operator(s) | Amtrak | ||||
| Route | |||||
| Start | Chicago, Illinois | ||||
| End | Moline, Illinois | ||||
| Service frequency | Daily | ||||
| Technical | |||||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | ||||
| Track owner(s) | BNSF, IAIS | ||||
| |||||
The Quad Cities is a planned Amtrak intercity rail route which will run from Chicago, Illinois, to Moline, Illinois. It will be a part of the Illinois Service. This train will follow the routing of Carl Sandburg and Illinois Zephyr to Princeton and will split off at Wyanet, Illinois, stopping at Geneseo and Moline using track from BNSF and the Iowa Interstate Railroad.[1]
Background
Originally, the Rock Island provided passenger service in the Quad Cities under the Quad Cities Rocket train. Passenger service to Chicago continued until December 31, 1978.[2]
In 2008, the two current United States Senators from Iowa, Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley; Illinois Senator Dick Durbin; and former Senator Barack Obama sent a letter to Amtrak asking them to begin plans to bring rail service to the Quad Cities.[3] In October 2010, a $230 million federal fund was announced that will bring Amtrak service to the Quad Cities, with a new line running from Moline to Chicago. They had hoped to have the line completed in 2015, and to offer two daily round trips to Chicago.[4] In December 2011, the federal government awarded $177 million in funding for the Amtrak connection.[5]
In 2015, Illinois governor Bruce Rauner announced a spending freeze that placed both the proposed train service and the Black Hawk under review by the IDOT.[6] After being on hold for over a year, IDOT moved forward with the project in order to prevent losing the $177 million in federal funding for the passenger service.[7]
References
- ↑ "Chicago to Quad Cities Map". IllinoisRail.org.
- ↑ Glischinksi, Steve (2007). Regional Railroads of the Midwest. Voyageur Press. p. 77. ISBN 9781610604956.
- ↑ Coulter, Melissa (2008-06-06). "Ready to trade wheels for rails". Quad-City Times. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
- ↑ Tibbetts, Ed (2010-10-25). "Quad-City rail project to get $230 million". Quad-City Times. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
- ↑ Pulliam, John R. (2011-12-15). "$177M earmarked for QC-Chicago rail". The Register-Mail. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
- ↑ Simmons, Shane (2015-01-25). "Gov. Rauner's spending freeze results in 'review' of Quad City Amtrak project". WQAD-TV. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
- ↑ Timmons, Eric (2016-06-21). "Illinois commits to Chicago-Moline passenger rail". The Dispatch / The Rock Island Argus. Retrieved 2016-07-25.