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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The proposed Quad Cities passenger rail route,
3running between Chicago and downtown Moline, was initially
4slated to begin service in 2014; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Senator Richard J. Durbin secured $177 million in
6federal funding for the project in 2010; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Governor JB Pritzker renewed the State's
8commitment to the project by providing $225 million in state
9funding in 2019; and
 
10    WHEREAS, As of 2023, the Illinois Department of
11Transportation (IDOT) and the Iowa Interstate Railroad have
12failed to reach an agreement on the infrastructure upgrades
13needed for the project; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The passenger rail project is projected to have a
15$25 million annual economic impact once service begins and to
16bring up to 825 permanent jobs to the Quad City region; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The Mayor of the City of Moline, the State
18Senator of the 36th District, and the State Representative of
19the 72nd District in Illinois have urged Governor JB Pritzker
20and the Illinois Department of Transportation to request the

 

 

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1National Surface Transportation Board get involved to bring
2all parties to the table; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The Surface Transportation Board has the
4authority to compel both IDOT and the Iowa Interstate Railroad
5to hold a good faith meeting on the proposed project; and
 
6    WHEREAS, After years of unnecessary delays, the last
7remaining hurdle to construction is an agreement between IDOT
8and the Iowa Interstate Railroad on the upgrades needed to
9convert the Iowa Interstate Railroad's existing freight tracks
10for passenger service; and
 
11    WHEREAS, In 2019, a five-year extension of the project's
12federal funding from the Federal Railroad Administration was
13made to provide ample time for IDOT and the Iowa Interstate
14Railroad to enter an agreement and for construction to begin
15on the project; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The Iowa Interstate Railroad continues to hold
17the Quad Cities community and its passenger rail advocates
18hostage in an egregious attempt to extract hundreds of
19millions of additional taxpayer dollars to improve their
20privately owned infrastructure while currently transporting
21potentially harmful chemicals and materials on that very
22infrastructure, which goes against the interests of the State

 

 

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1of Illinois; therefore, be it
 
2    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
3HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
4we urge Governor JB Pritzker and Illinois Department of
5Transportation (IDOT) to make a formal request to the National
6Surface Transportation Board to compel the Iowa Interstate
7Railroad to enter into an agreement on the Quad Cities
8passenger rail project.