Illinois leaders talk about trains, rail projects

“I am fascinated by what I see happening here especially with Amtrak,” said U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Schaumburg. “This is the first time I’ve seen a city hall above the train station.” 

Krishnamoorthi met with Normal Mayor Chris Koos at City Hall in uptown Normal for a roundtable in which they primarily discussed the current state of transportation and future developments locally, regionally and nationally.

Participants included state Rep. Sharon Chung, D-Bloomington; Mike Rakes, business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 197; Jerry Kelleher, business agent with the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 99; and Neil Finlen, principal at Farnsworth Group. 

“Bloomington-Normal, excuse me, Normal-Bloomington has been quite well for having an unusual situation where we have incredible rail transportation, inner city bus transportation, we have three interstates that connect to our community and we have a very strong and vital airport,” said Koos, who is a member of the Amtrack Board of Directors.

Koos said Amtrak’s work nationally has been incredible, including reinforcing the northeast corridor, adding new routes like the Borealis train from Chicago to Minneapolis and even announcing a new agreement for a southern route from New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama.

The mayor said he believes Chicago is likely the most important city in the United States for passenger rail because of how many trains cross through. Koos also noted Illinois is seeing increased ridership on the Chicago to St. Louis line, and the Chicago Hub Improvement Program is expected to renovate and revitalize Chicago Union Station and help to advance the national passenger rail system.

“How we can improve transportation here locally and what’s happening Chicago is going to be a very, very big piece with that CHIP project,” Koos said. “I think this is something long term that we would like to do, to have that connection because it’s proven to be a very vital transportation network between Chicago and St. Louis, and there are some holes in that network which we think could be filled and would dramatically increase ridership along that Chicago to St. Louis line.”

Koos briefly touched on the long-awaited pedestrian underpass project in uptown, which will provide a crossing underneath the Union Pacific Railroad tracks at Uptown Station. 

The Town Council approved spending nearly $2 million to relocate two telecommunication facilities ahead of the construction pf the new underpass, which has an estimated $27.1 million price tag.

The project is anticipated to be put out for bids soon after the relocation for the communication facilities is complete. Representatives from local labor unions said they are glad to see their involvement in the project. 

“We’re looking at the underpass coming up in the near future as the mayor had led to spurring the south side of the tracks, thankful for the federal funding and state funding to hopefully bring that project to fruition here shortly,” Rakes said. “We’re talking about operators, electricians, plumbers, pipefitters, laborers, cement masons and teamsters. That is going to create a nice size job force here locally.”

Krishnamoorthi said the station in uptown Normal is the second busiest station in the state trailing behind Chicago with more than 200,000 passengers traveling through the station every year, and the CHIP project would not only enhance the ability for Chicago to handle trains and ridership, but it will help all other stations manage them as well.

Chung, who is running for re-election against Republican Desi Anderson in November, said she and others within the state legislature have been talking about the fiscal funding cliff related to public transportation, especially in Chicago, and trying to figure out what needs to be done with the Regional Transit Authority, PACE and Chicago Transit Authority.

Connect Transit, Bloomington-Normal bus system, will also be apart of those conversations, but it will be a smaller player since the service does not nearly have the same ridership as they do in Chicago with all of the entities involved, Chung said.

“That’s something that I am really concerned about, at least for me personally, to just think about the budget, what we’re gonna have to look at in Springfield this coming session next year and to see how that’s all going to play out,” Chung said. “Ridership and the general public seem to maybe be more open to somehow consolidating these entities.”

Krishnamoorthi said the reason for the fiscal funding cliff is because of all the aid received during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, which was otherwise making up for reduced ridership, has now run out, and it is tougher to collect revenue when the ridership is still not at pre-pandemic levels.

“Though we’re starting to see some of it come back through various promotions and other natural, organic growth that might happen,” Krishnamoorthi added. “I do think the hybrid workplace has really changed the way that people work and people who used to commute downtown are doing so maybe three days a week instead of five.”

Krishnamoorthi asked how close the state is to realizing the vision of high-speed railway transportation. He also mentioned Elon Musk’s Boring Company brought proposals to Chicago during former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s time in office for high speed tunnels between the Loop and Chicago O’Hare International Airport, but the project cost more than anticipated.

Koos said a lot of people think high-speed rail is a solution to transportation with Amtrak, but the more important issue is on-time performance of passenger lines and holding the organization accountable in prioritizing passenger trains over freight trains.

For reference, Koos said the federal government put in about $1.5 billion to upgrade the Chicago-St. Louis line to have dual tracking in certain segments for freight lines to yield to Amtrak services, but since those lines have been built, freight companies have gone to a longer model with more carts to accommodate rising demands. Now those secondary tracks are not long enough to hold the freight trains. 

Another hurdle to high-speed rail is the cost. Koos said implementing a high-speed rail system would be a significant expense, in part because it would require improving and modernizing the railway system to accommodate speeds of 150 to 200 miles per hour, acquiring the land surrounding those lines to improve grading, and improving or adding crossing infrastructure.

The mayor also noted the U.S. has the most passenger lines in the world with about 27,500 miles of passenger rail, and high-speed rail would likely be considered between Los Angeles and Las Vegas and between Dallas and Houston before the Chicago-St. Louis line were up for consideration.

“It really has to do with ridership,” Koos said. “In Dallas to Houston, there’s significant airline traffic back and forth and they feel it could be better served with a high-speed train line.”

Krishnamoorthi and others later met on Illinois State University for a Get Out the Vote Rally.