Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told an audience of business leaders at the QCBJ’s Transportation & Infrastructure Symposium in the Quad Cities on April 11, 2024, there was “no time to waste” in trying to get passenger rail from Chicago to the Quad Cities.
“If you build passenger rail from Chicago to the Quad Cities, you will increase your opportunities for economic development for people coming here, but the Iowa piece has to get done, and you are the only ones that can make it happen,” he added.
The “stars are aligned” and large amounts of infrastructure investment money remain available at the state and federal levels, he continued.
While the “Iowa piece” is far from done, the Illinois part is much closer to reality after $425 million in state funds was approved by the Illinois legislature. Gov. J.B. Pritzker was expected to sign the legislation into law at this writing.
Mr. LaHood’s encouragement was heeded, including through a letter-writing campaign spearheaded by the Quad Cities Chamber that flooded Illinois lawmakers’ inboxes in the final week of the Illinois legislative veto session, a QCBJ article said.
Community leaders said during a celebration event at The Q in Moline on Oct. 31, that the outpouring of support helped lead to approval of a statewide mass transit reform plan. It includes the $425 million and also provides money to the Illinois Quad Cities MetroLINK, the City of Galesburg, Warren County transportation and Go West Transit, Macomb.
Quad Cities leaders reminded business and community leaders that their continued support will be essential in ensuring the promised Quad Cities funds in the new Northern Illinois Transit Authority are spent to get passenger trains running between Chicago and Moline after the law takes effect in June 2026.
The Q passenger rail station was built in Moline in 2018 in anticipation of a successful effort to get passenger rail service from Chicago.
Illinois state Rep. Gregg Johnson, D-East Moline, said at the event, “For years, folks across our region and in Springfield worked tirelessly for passenger rail. And today we can finally say that the future is coming down the tracks.”
When important economic development support is needed, the Quad Cities community comes together to make it happen. This is yet another great example.
Passenger rail from Chicago to Moline is a huge part of the overall plan to extend passenger rail to Des Moines, Omaha and beyond. But the path forward through and with Iowa is much less clear.
The Quad Cities can savor this moment, but as the region keenly knows, the politics and political priorities between Iowa and Illinois couldn’t be more stark.
Getting Iowa to financially support extending passenger rail from Illinois through Iowa will take every bit as much effort as the Illinois part. We’re hopeful that success can be achieved through a sustained and aggressive strategy that builds upon what was recently accomplished in Illinois.
