High-Speed Rail Seen as Economic Engine in Illinois
Monday, January 18, 2010
he residents of Normal, Ill., have one word to describe their community’s train station:
“Amshack.”
Don’t get them wrong. Amtrak’s intercity passenger trains provide essential transportation in central Illinois for the twin cities of Bloomington, which includes Illinois Wesleyan University, and Normal, home to Illinois State University.
Airline service to the area from Chicago and other big cities has declined in recent years, contributing in part to the train station in downtown Normal ranking as the fourth-busiest Amtrak terminal for passenger boarding in the Midwest, behind Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Louis.
But the station is in bad shape and it’s inadequate to serve future needs, officials said.
Normal Mayor Chris Koos traveled the approximately 135 miles to Chicago on Friday to participate in a conference that Gov. Pat Quinn called to improve passenger and freight rail operations in Illinois, and to be prepared to get off on a fast start when $8 billion in federal stimulus grants for high-speed rail are awarded to the states sometime before spring.
Read the full story in the Chicago Tribune.
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