It was back in 2007 that we first started talking about Amtrak and IDOT doing a feasibility study on a possible Chicago-Peoria route. The study was going to be completed by late 2007, then early 2008. Then there were a number of delays. By the end of 2008, Amtrak/IDOT officials were promising it would be done by March 2009. Then they pushed it back to “summer.” Now we’ve been informed that the Amtrak study has been pushed back to “at least” this fall.

Over the past several years, ridership has risen dramatically and interest in establishing new routes has increased; plus, there’s a serious effort underway to establish high-speed rail service. However, all this interest in passenger rail in addition to existing freight traffic is starting to put a strain on capacity, especially around Chicago. So, some capacity studies have been ordered (i.e., a study to see if another train can be added to some already busy segments of the route, or whether those segments are at capacity), which is adding more time and expense to the feasibility study.

One idea that has been bandied about is setting up a rail shuttle between Peoria and Normal. Such a shuttle wouldn’t be a direct connection between Peoria and Chicago, but rather a connection to the train depot in Normal, from which one could connect to a Chicago-bound or St. Louis-bound train.

I’m skeptical of this idea. The amount of time it would take to travel between Peoria and Normal, plus the layover, plus the hassle of switching trains — I just don’t believe that such a shuttle would attract enough ridership to make it feasible. Peoria is the third-largest metropolitan statistical area in the state. There’s really no reason we shouldn’t have direct passenger rail service to Chicago.

It looks like the United States is finally going to get serious about modernizing its train system. Here’s a press release I received yesterday:

Vision for a New Era in Rail Entails Clean, Energy-Efficient Option for Travelers

Thursday, April 16, 2009 (Washington, DC) — President Barack Obama, along with Vice President Biden and Secretary LaHood, announced a new U.S. push today to transform travel in America, creating high-speed rail lines from city to city, reducing dependence on cars and planes and spurring economic development.

The President released a strategic plan outlining his vision for high speed rail in America. The plan identifies $8 billion provided in the ARRA and $1 billion a year for five years requested in the federal budget as a down payment to jump-start a potential world-class passenger rail system and sets the direction of transportation policy for the future. The strategic plan will be followed by detailed guidance for state and local applicants. By late summer, the Federal Railroad Administration will begin awarding the first round of grants.

Additional funding for long-term planning and development is expected from legislation authorizing federal surface transportation programs.

The report formalizes the identification of ten high-speed rail corridors as potential recipients of federal funding. Those lines are: California, Pacific Northwest, South Central, Gulf Coast, Chicago Hub Network, Florida, Southeast, Keystone, Empire and Northern New England. Also, opportunities exist for the Northeast Corridor from Washington to Boston to compete for funds to improve the nation’s only existing high-speed rail service.

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David Jordan at Peoria Station has the scoop.

…the study being done by Amtrak on the feasibility of Intercity Rail Service between Chicago and Peoria will be further delayed possibly to July.

The study was supposed to be released this month.

Amtrak and the Illinois Department of Transportation is currently studying the feasibility of establishing passenger train service between Chicago and Peoria. The report was originally supposed to be released toward the end of last year, but there were a number of delays, sources tell Mayor Ardis. Ardis recently gave me a status update — Amtrak/IDOT has finished their visual inspection of the routes being studied, and they are crunching the numbers. The study should be completed by next month.

Restoring passenger rail service to Peoria is “cost prohibitive” and “impractical,” according to U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood.

“It’s going to take an enormous amount of money,” he said Tuesday, emphasizing that previous attempts to provide passenger rail to the area failed largely because of an inability to offer a more “efficient” way to travel to Chicago. “If you cannot get people into Chicago on a train quicker than by driving, it’s impractical to think people (will travel on a train).”

LaHood, R-Peoria, said if local leaders want to enhance Peoria’s passenger rail options, they should look at supporting existing Amtrak stations in Normal and Galesburg.

“Those of us in Peoria who wanted to take advantage of that will want to promote bus service (to either Bloomington/Normal or Galesburg),” said LaHood, whose congressional position allows him to facilitate discussions on regional transportation priorities and seek federal funding for projects.

LaHood also described himelf as a strong supporter of Amtrak, the nation’s intercity passenger rail system, and called legislation passed by Congress last year authorizing $13 billion over five years to Amtrak “a very good bill.”

I see. LaHood is for Amtrak in smaller metropolitan statistical areas like Galesburg and Bloomington, but for Peoria — the fourth-largest MSA in Illinois — the bus will do.

At his confirmation hearing, LaHood spoke the lingo of sustainability and livability, of the need to build new infrastructure and the importance of Amtrak, “the lifeblood of many, many communities around the country,” he was quoted as saying in the New York Times. It’s hard to square this rhetoric with LaHood’s comments from a year and a half ago. Denying intercity rail to such a large population so that their only options are to drive or take the bus is not sustainable thinking. Claiming that bringing Amtrak to Peoria is too expensive without even waiting for a feasibility study to be completed is prejudicial.

So how are we to explain LaHood’s testimony? Is he changing his mind, or just adopting language he doesn’t fully understand/believe because it’s what the senators want to hear?

U. S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the “Train Cars Act” (S.3360) on Tuesday in the Senate. The State Journal-Register explains what the bill proposes:

Durbin’s bill provides funding to encourage manufacturers currently supplying passenger rail cars overseas to open modern facilities here. And it provides a tax incentive for private domestic businesses to re-enter the passenger rail equipment business and rebuild facilities and train cars in the United States.

The legislation also would create a trust fund to replace the nation’s train cars by transferring one-quarter cent of the per-gallon motor fuel tax into the trust fund for three years. That would generate about $400 million a year, Durbin said.

It’s good to see more funding being proposed for passenger rail service. Whereas the federal government provides tens of billions of dollars for highways and airports, Amtrak has been treated as the redheaded stepchild, getting a mere $1 billion each year, even as they stave off annual efforts from the White House to cut off funding altogether. With gas prices on the rise, rail ridership is rising dramatically, and more funding is being proposed both in Congress and at the state level.

Amtrak and IDOT are currently studying the feasibility of Peoria-Chicago passenger service.

The first steps are being taken to restore passenger train service to Peoria — a city that at one time was a hub for train passengers from all over the country.

IDOT has informed the City that a preliminary meeting with Amtrak will take place this Friday to determine which train routes they will study. Within the next two weeks, they will begin the feasibility study in earnest, and hope to have the results by late summer. Last year, IDOT and Amtrak did a feasibility study on providing train service to the Quad Cities, and the report was very favorable.

In the meantime, the Midwest High Speed Rail Association is working with legislators in Springfield to improve Peoria’s access to existing train service in Bloomington and Galesburg:

This week, an Illinois Senate Committee debated a proposal to establish better intercity bus service directly connected to Amtrak service…. Senator Michael Frerichs (D-Champaign) introduced SB 2178 to authorize the State to contract with private bus companies to provide feeder bus service that complement existing Amtrak routes….

Another key corridor is I-74 that connects Peoria, Bloomington-Normal and Champaign-Urbana. There should be intercity bus service between two of our largest university towns for lots of good economic development reasons. And Peoria currently doesn’t have any Amtrak service, so a connection to two Amtrak lines makes a lot of sense. That’s a 90 mile trip, so it’s $180 for each one-way trip. 9 passengers who each pay $10 for a bus ticket and $10 for a train ticket make that a break-even proposition. If that route is extended northwest to Galesburg to connect to that Amtrak service (another 50 miles) we might find another 5 passengers to justify that additional $100 cost.

Note that there is currently Thruway service on the I-74 route offered by Burlington Trailways, but those two daily round-trips between Davenport, Iowa and Indianapolis, IN are not particularly designed around the Amtrak schedules.

Amtrak ridership in Illinois has been hitting record levels the past few years. According to Amtrak and IDOT officials, 3.6 million passengers used Amtrak stations in Illinois in FY2007, including all trains at Amtrak Chicago Union Station.

My train was late getting into Chicago on Sunday — so late that I missed the last train of the day headed back to Bloomington. So I got to stay overnight in the Windy City at Amtrak’s expense.

Some may scoff, but I still think it’s the best way to travel. Yes, it needs to be improved, but it sure beat driving, even with the delays. I was sitting in the dining car, relaxing comfortably, eating salmon and a baked potato while looking out the window, watching motorists slip and slide down the road in near-blizzard-like conditions while we traveled through Wisconsin.

I was happy to see we didn’t get hit with a blizzard here in Peoria. It made it easy to drive home from Bloomington on Monday. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

The President’s proposed 2009 budget includes a cut in federal subsidies to Amtrak:

Taking Steps to Rationalize the Nation’s Intercity Passenger Rail System

• Curtails Federal subsidies. $800 million for Amtrak, which represents a significant but necessary cut to the railroad’s Federal subsidy.
  • Requires that Amtrak control its operating losses and focus on services that offer the most promise.
  • Reserves the bulk of funds for capital investment so improvements may continue along the heavily trafficked Northeast Corridor.
  • Reflects that Amtrak has taken few steps to align its business with the traveling public’s demand for intercity rail service and that it consequently continues to hemorrhage taxpayer funds.
• Provides State matching grants. $100 million for State matching grants for intercity passenger rail capital projects to empower States, not Amtrak, to address their transportation goals and priorities.

Bush tried to cut Amtrak funding last year, too, but Congress gave Amtrak $1.3 billion instead. It’s likely that Amtrak will get even more money this year. The U.S. Senate passed S.294 on Oct. 30, 2007, which gives Amtrak nearly $2 billion per year over the next six years and finally abandons the unrealistic notion that Amtrak can ever be self-sufficient. The Boston Globe has a good overview of the bill. It still needs to pass the House and get Bush’s signature. Hopefully it will pass with a veto-proof majority.

Before Amtrak can look at the feasibility of a Chicago-Peoria Amtrak route, they had to complete their study of a Chicago-Quad Cities corridor. That study was released this week, and it’s very encouraging. According to the Associated Press, it estimates the route would get 111,000 riders per year, cost between $14 and $23 million to upgrade the trackage, and $6 million annually to operate.

You can read Amtrak’s press release here. Included on that page is a link to the executive summary of the report.

My understanding is that the next feasibility study Amtrak and IDOT will be working on is the Chicago-Peoria study.