(The Munster Times posted the following article by Brendan O’Shaughnessy on its website on March 26.)
INDIANAPOLIS — A plan to study the possibility of a high-speed passenger train service for the Midwest, including an important hub in Gary, may have found a new funding source Tuesday.
House Bill 1489 had called for the Port Commission to fund the necessary preliminary studies, but lawmakers learned Port officials have little interest in initiatives that do not generate immediate revenue. Instead, train supporters such as state Sen. Sue Landske, R-Cedar Lake, would tap 10 percent of an Indiana Department of Transportation fund that uses federal money for road planning.
The ambitious $4.1 billion Midwestern regional rail system would connect nine states from a Chicago hub and span 545 miles of rail in Indiana alone, serving 6.4 million Hoosiers. At speeds up to 110 mph, the trains would offer a viable alternative to driving or flying, as well as bring a needed economic boost to Northwest Indiana, backers said.
“Instead of driving to Chicago and waiting at the airport, you could jump on a train to Cincinnati or Kansas City,” Landske said. “It certainly beats sitting in traffic.”
Preliminary estimates of long-term economic benefits for Gary are the state’s highest — more than $400 million — because all three Indiana lines could converge there. These routes likely would converge at or near Gary/Chicago Airport on the way to Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati.
The goal of creating a Midwestern train system similar to those in European countries has been hampered by a lack of money since its conception about 15 years ago. But the first step is funding environmental impact and feasibility studies, an area where Indiana has fallen behind, advocates said.
“We cannot lay asphalt fast enough to keep up with the need,” said state Sen. Robert Jackman, R-Milroy. “We have to show the feds we’re committed. It’s not much but we’re broke and we’re trying to get on board.”
Michael Scime, railroad section manager for INDOT, said the department would find $260,000 in its budget to leverage more than $1 million in federal matching funds for the studies. The 80 percent federal, 20 percent state match gives Indiana a real incentive to start the process, he said.
Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan already have begun the necessary upgrades to accommodate the faster trains, while Indiana and Ohio are in the preliminary stages, Scime said. Lawmakers created a commission to study Indiana’s role in the project in 2000.
“Indiana is at the point where we have to do the studies to qualify for federal money,” said Elizabeth Solberg, a commission member who testified. “We have to stay competitive with neighbor states.”
But the entire project is a costly endeavor. The plan unanimously approved by the Transportation and Homeland Security Committee would only discover how much of the line could be exempted from full impact studies.
The remaining studies are projected to cost another $8 million to $10 million. And the actual construction and upgrades would could cost about $900 million in Indiana. The state’s cost would be about $200 million over five to 10 years, a total that is not possible in the current budget crisis.
But these kind of projects take time and vision, supporters said. Once the funding is in place, planners estimate it would take 10 years before the entire project could be completed and support itself with revenues from 9.6 million passengers per year.
The pro-business Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Sierra Club environmental group, two interest groups that often have competing interests, both supported the bill. The plan would use mostly existing routes, except the tracks would pass under or over roads, and it would relieve auto and plane congestion and pollution, the groups said.
“It’s the most economically efficient and environmentally friendly way to move things,” said Glen Pratt, the Sierra Club representative.