(The following story by Dan Gearino appeared on the Quad-City Times website on February 1.)
DES MOINES — A passenger train route from the Quad-Cities to Iowa City would cost $26.4 million and would have 60,700 riders per year, according to projections released by a commission studying the service.
The Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission included the figures in a presentation to Iowa legislators on Thursday.
“I think this is the transportation mode of the future for a lot of different reasons,” said Thomas Hart, who works with the rail commission in his role as transportation adviser for the Iowa Department of Economic Development.
“It’s not only the price of gas, but if you look at the demographics, there are a lot of us aging and we may not have the ability to drive like we used to,” Hart said.
The Quad-Cities-to-Iowa City line would happen only if another proposed line gets built from Chicago to the Quad-Cities. That line would cost at least $19.4 million and would have estimated annual ridership of at least 102,700.
The estimates were part of feasibility studies conducted by Amtrak, the federally run passenger rail service.
The projected costs and riders vary, depending on the speed of the trains. A train could run up to 60 mph on existing track with minimal upgrades. However, transportation officials could draw more riders by upgrading the track to handle speeds of up to 79 mph.
For the Quad-Cities-to-Iowa City line, it would cost $32.8 million for a 79-mph train, an increase of $6.4 million from the 60-mph train. At the faster speed, an estimated 76,100 riders would use the service, up 15,600 from the slower speed.
For the Chicago-to-Quad-Cities line, it would cost an additional $8.6 million to upgrade the track for a 79-mph train, which would draw an additional 8,100 riders.
Another possible route — from Chicago to Dubuque, Iowa, — is also being studied by Amtrak and the commission.
State Sen. Daryl Beall, D-Fort Dodge, Iowa, is a member of the rail commission and said the potential expansion of passenger rail is in the very earliest stages.
“It’s a long-term project,” he said. “This isn’t something we’ll be able to do to meet the needs of Iowans who want to travel within the next few years.”
The commission includes transportation officials and legislators from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and Ohio.
Amtrak now runs two routes in Iowa, the California Zephyr, which runs across the southern part of the state, and the Southwest Chief, which has one stop in the southeastern part of the state. More than 60,000 passengers boarded the trains in Iowa in 2006.