It sounds like Quinn had something going already or trying to and CN didnt pan out, so it may have come to this solution. Your looking at ways to reduce road traffic, them bus services aint doing that.

I don't think it matters now who the next governor comes in, it sounds like the service is set in stone now and will happen.
There is transportation money set aside for that purpose so there you go. The state isnt out of money, its how you manage it.

I seem to recall being at IRM years ago and some passenger train zooming past, maybe I have it on film.

Metra service to Huntly is a double edged sword.
The good: More transportation options for visitors (obviously).
The bad: Commute rail will speed suburban developement. Time for IRM to get serious about buying up buffer land ASAP.

IRM has done a pretty good job on buffer land all along.

https://xa.yimg.com/df/IRMlist/IRMRealE ... e=download

-Hudson

now somebody's unhappy with the reroute...

well, somebody build an interurban to connect....

......................


http://csanders429.wordpress.com/

Illinois Town Upset About Being Bypassed
April 17, 2014

Recently announced plans to launch Amtrak service between Chicago and Rockford, Ill., have upset officials in a town that is being bypassed. In fact, you could say that city officials in Genoa are downright angry about it.

“The whole way this was handled was disgraceful,” Genoa Mayor Mark Vicary said. “We just found out about this [Thursday] night. It’s a travesty, and it was taken away from us in the darkness of the night.”

Genoa officials had expected the train to use Canadian National tracks that pass through their town. Illinois Department of Transportation officials has expected that to be the case, too.

But negotiations with CN to use the former Illinois Central route failed to conclude in an agreement, so IDOT struck a deal with Union Pacific, which agreed to allow the train to use a former Chicago & North Western route via Huntley and Belvidere.

The Chicago-Rockford service, which IDOT hopes to launch in 2015, is expected to eventually be extended to Dubuque, Iowa. That would involve having to use the CN route. Until 1981, the former IC route hosted Amtrak’s Black Hawk between Chicago and Dubuque. That service ended following budget cuts that reduced the money available to IDOT to pay for Amtrak service.

The Genoa Area Chamber of Commerce is sending letters to its members asking them to reach out to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn to voice their support for the city stop.

“We had no idea this was something that was going to happen,” says Cortney Strohacker, the chamber’s executive director. “We were looking forward to the economic development opportunities it would bring, and were looking forward to not only having Amtrak available for us, but for others who wanted to come to Genoa.”

[
I don't think it matters now who the next governor comes in, it sounds like the service is set in stone now and will happen.
There is transportation money set aside for that purpose so there you go. The state isnt out of money, its how you manage it.

I seem to recall being at IRM years ago and some passenger train zooming past, maybe I have it on film.[/quote]

So you think it doesn't matter who the next governor is? Maybe you should move up here to Wisconsin and tell that to the folks who saw incoming governor Scott Walker reject all passenger train money, including the Talgos being built in Milwaukee.

Elections have consequences.

The route for this train has been in flux for seven years, and it finally got off the ground because of Walker.
Federal rail money rejected by Wisconsin and Florida was tagged by Illinois. The route finalized last year via Genoa was supposedly the lowest cost to Illinois. Although the Genoa officials seem upset I know a lot folks in Genoa that would rather keep passenger service to Chicago out.
As far as it actually happening I’m not holding my breath. A republican senate or white house could vaporize the federal money allocated.

Here is the original Amtrak 2007 feasibility study.
www.dot.state.il.us/amtrak/RCK_Feasibility.pdf

Now that I've stopped rolling around on the floor laughing, let me quote some key points of the study:

Order of Magnitude Summary of Capital Cost $ Millions
1. Upgrade UP trackage Belvidere to east Rockford $ 6.5
2. Install CTC on UP $14.0
3. Connection tracks Metra to UP and UP to CN $ 5.0
4. Construct Siding on UP $ 3.6

I hope the formatting holds up. I've pulled only the costs of the Chicago-Rockford segment out, since CN has already said no. I suppose the cost of the connecting tracks should be reduced also; no sense building a connection from the UP to CN if they won't run the trains.

Contrast this 28 MILLION DOLLAR estimated cost (in 2007 dollars) with this statement:

"The number of coaches in the consist have been sized to reflect the anticipated
patronage. As will be reflected later in the rider ship/revenue forecast summary, it appears that the number of coaches required for all routes will be two."

Which is what Amtrak ran back before the service was cut in '81, two RDC's. Considering the current proposal eliminates the "tourist" destinations of Galena and Dubuque, it's questionable they will fill even one. Now you know why the country is broke.

Just because money has been authorized, doesn't mean the project will be built. Speaker Hassert pushed his pet Prairie Parkway highway all the way to land acquisition status before he retired, and now that pork barrel project is quietly on hold, and the monies spent elsewhere.