(Gatehouse News Service circulated the following on September 11.)
PEORIA, Ill. — Proponents of high-speed rail gathered Monday at Amtrak stops including Springfield, Galesburg and Macomb to tout increased ridership and announce a new Web site to make it easier for people to get information about the trains.
In Springfield, Dan Johnson-Weinberger, spokesman for the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, said the more people use Amtrak, the more likely the state will see truly high-speed trains.
“Illinois has become the national model for improving passenger rail by investing in additional frequencies and showing a much higher ridership,” he said. “We believe that there’s a lot of people who just haven’t thought Amtrak’s an option for getting to St. Louis or for coming to Springfield … It’s a culture we’re trying to change.”
The new Web site is www.catchanillinoistrain.com. It includes schedules, ticket information and tips on riding the train, such as the amount of baggage and how to find a seat.
The Web site is promoted by the Midwest High Speed Rail Association.
“It’s targeted at folks who may not have used the train before,” said Rick Harnish, the association’s executive director. “The goal is just to get more people on trains.”
Ridership on the St. Louis-Springfield-Chicago route has increased 54 percent over the past year, according to the Amtrak proponents.
Stops along that route include Lincoln, Bloomington-Normal and Pontiac.
Johnson-Weinberger estimated a $10 million to $15 million upgrade of the signaling system between Springfield and Joliet – the “air traffic control for trains” – would allow them to go up to 110 miles per hour between the two cities.
Additional money would be needed to fix bottlenecks near Union Station in Chicago, Johnson-Weinberger said.
In Galesburg, Ray Lang, director of government affairs for Amtrak, said 40,000 more people rode the Chicago to Quincy corridor from October 2006 to July 2007 than during the same time period one year earlier.
“It’s a remarkable increase,” he said, giving credit to a new service known as the Carl Sandburg that passes through Galesburg twice a day, coming and going.
That route includes stops in Macomb, Kewanee, Princeton and Mendota.
State Rep. Don Moffitt, R-Gilson, said an outgrowth of the increased ridership is a conversation now about expanding the size of the Galesburg depot.
“These are the kinds of problems that are nice to deal with,” he said.
In Macomb, Mayor Mick Wisslead said he was excited to see numerous people get off the train Monday morning.
“Amtrak is part of our economic engine,” he said. “And you can buy a ticket to Chicago and back for less than it costs to park up there.”
)Chris Wetterich, Ron Jensen and Jodi Pospeschil contributed to this story.)