(The following article by Heath Hixson was posted on the Rockford Register Star website on May 18.)
ROCKFORD, Ill. — Just days after state lawmakers doubled funding for three downstate Amtrak passenger rail routes, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is wooing the national rail line’s acting president about meeting with area officials to discuss the potential return of service to Rockford.
Durbin’s request came in the form of a letter released by his office Wednesday afternoon. Late Wednesday afternoon, Amtrak officials said they had not seen the letter.
Still, Karina Romero, an Amtrak spokeswoman in Washington, called the letter “a first step” and said the company would be “very happy to sit down with the city of Rockford to see what we can work out.”
In his letter, Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, asks David Hughes, Amtrak acting president, “to discuss the possibility of restoring Amtrak service on the Chicago- to-Rockford corridor.” He specifically names the Black Hawk service that used to run from Chicago through Rockford to Dubuque, Iowa, before it ended in 1981.
Local government officials and rail supporters who are working to extend Metra’s commuter passenger rail service to the Rock River Valley said they were not aware of the letter, but noted that Amtrak has been a topic in recent discussions with state officials.
Jim Ryan, Rockford city administrator, said city officials would be willing to meet with Amtrak even as they are focused on bringing commuter passenger rail to the region.
“We would never pass up the opportunity of having a sit-down meeting with Amtrak officials as well as the congressional delegation of Illinois on transportation options or alternatives for our citizens,” he said.
The request by Durbin comes as Ryan and other regional officials are preparing to select a consultant for a nearly $3 million, two-year analysis of mass transit options. That analysis was prompted by a 2004 feasibility study that found the region could sustain an extension of Metra’s commuter passenger rail service.
The analysis, required by the Federal Transit Administration for the region to be eligible for future federal dollars, will consider rail service, bus service or other possibilities. The final report could recommend no transit project is needed to ease commuter travel in the region.
Although Durbin writes that he believes “Amtrak expansion to Rockford would be well-received” he did not identify how such a line would be funded. Rail industry officials have said rail lines in the region would have to be improved for the Amtrak service to be possible, a task that could cost tens of millions of dollars in state or federal tax dollars.