The Rockford, Illinois newspaper takes a sensible approach to good transportation.

Senate revives hope on Amtrak

Nov 01, 2007 @ 01:20 AM

By Chuck Sweeny

RRSTAR.COM

ROCKFORD -There may be hope for Rockford’s chances of getting that Amtrak train after all. The U.S. Senate voted 77-22 Tuesday to reauthorize Amtrak funding for six years at $3.2 billion a year. The money includes $1.3 billion a year in bonding authority. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., was a prime sponsor of the bipartisan bill, which also would create an intercity passenger rail capital grant program for states.

Illinois and Iowa could tap the $237 million-a-year grant program to develop the proposed Amtrak route from Chicago on the Canadian National line through Rockford, Freeport and Galena to Dubuque, Iowa. Durbin has been the primary promoter of restoring passenger service on the track, which last saw an Amtrak train in 1981.

“Federal, state and local leaders recently worked together to find a rail route for residents in Rockford that would serve as an alternative to the congested roads in and out of Chicago,” Durbin said. The bill, “in tandem with state funding, makes it possible or us to continue to expand rail service throughout the state and country.”

The House version of the bill is just being introduced, said Rich Carter, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Egan.

“The bill treats Amtrak like the long-term federal road program, where we deal with it every six years,” Carter said. Although Manzullo hadn’t seen the details, he generally backs the passenger rail service as part of the national transportation infrastructure.

“The congressman has been a strong supporter of Amtrak and has fought off several attempts by the (Bush) administration to gut or severely cut the passenger railroad system,” Carter said.

Indeed, after fighting the Bushies’ relentless attempts to kill Amtrak for seven years, passenger rail supporters may finally be winning the day. No passenger rail systems make money, but governments in Europe, Asia and Canada are investing heavily in rail to combat pollution and give people an alternative to congested roads and high gas prices.

People are voting with their tickets: When the state increased the number of Amtrak trains in 2006, the riders flocked to them. Ridership on the Chicago-to-St. Louis corridor rose 42 percent to 477,888, the rail service said, and ridership between Chicago and Milwaukee is nearing the 600,000 mark.

Other corridor trains in Illinois also are doing well. For instance, ridership between Carbondale and Chicago is up 67.4 percent; the Chicago-Galesburg-Quincy route is up 46 percent. Altogether, about 3.6 million people used Amtrak’s stations in Illinois last year.