Rail Coalition
interested parties to work together for a common goal
to return passenger rail to northwest Illinois and
beyond"
January 30, 2010
Governor Quinn Announces Capital Funding For Rockford Passenger Rail
State Invests $60 Million in Rail Passenger Service and Jobs
ROCKFORD – January 30, 2010. Governor Pat Quinn today visited Rockford to award $60 million in state capital funds to
establish passenger rail service from Chicago to Rockford. The new service could result in as many as 2,000 new jobs,
including more than 650 construction jobs.
“This week, we were happy to receive $1.2 billion in federal money for high-speed rail that will take people between Chicago
and St. Louis,” said Governor Quinn. “Now we want to make sure people can travel from Chicago to Rockford and beyond.
This new line is going to connect Chicago to the western part of our state, create jobs and bring more visitors to the city of
Rockford.”
The Chicago to Rockford project is one leg of a planned passenger train service extension that would connect west across
northern Illinois to Dubuque, Iowa. Trains would depart Dubuque early in the morning, arriving in Chicago in the late
morning. Trains would depart Chicago in the evening, arriving in Dubuque before midnight.
“It is important that we continue to invest in our state’s rail system," said Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig. "We
hope to get this project started this year and are very excited about what the future holds for passenger rail in Illinois."
Despite being the second largest city in Illinois, Rockford has not seen passenger rail service since 1981. Preliminary work
will start immediately with construction slated to begin in 2011, creating new jobs that will benefit the city with the highest
unemployment in the state.
Federal officials announced Thursday that Illinois will receive $1.2 billion through the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act (ARRA) to begin track and signal upgrades for high-speed passenger rail service between Chicago and St. Louis.
The funding for this passenger rail project is part of Illinois Jobs Now!, a job generation and capital improvement program
that will revive the state’s ailing economy by creating and retaining over 439,000 jobs over six years.
Who is BARC?
The Blackhawk Area Rail Coalition (BARC), is a grassroots group, established in May of 2006, by local citizens who support
passenger rail service. Our Co-Chairs are Liz Carter (Galena, IL), and Janet Fisher (Hanover, IL). Our Secretary is Constance
Chambers (Galena, IL). The group has been working closely with Senator Dick Durbin and others since it's inception, toward
reinstating passenger rail service from Chicago through Rockford, Freeport, Galena, Illinois, into Dubuque, Iowa. Janet Fisher had
previously chaired the Galena Railroad Development Coalition, organized in 1992. BARC replaced the Galena Railroad Coalition in
2006. BARC's membership is consists of area residents, local, regional, and national business owners, current and former elected
officials, along with tourist including those from national as well as international locations.
BARC currently boasts a membership total of over 40,000 individuals!
BARC's membership continues to grow, and currently stands at approximately 40,000 members. The outpouring of support from our
members has been outstanding. We have to thank everyone for joining and for your continued support and hard work!
Barc wishes to express our great thanks to Pat Stortenbecker for signing up the lions share of our members! Pat consistently has
gone above and beyond the call, and we are certainly in her debt.
Localities must Focus on Continued Planning!
The communities should continue to focus on planning and budgeting for the needed infrastructure and station improvements.
Time is of the essence for this planning and getting things in line so they are ready once the train service commences. This is a very
important part of the project. It has been made clear that these costs should be covered by the localities. It has been noted there
likely are grant monies available to assist with these costs.
BARC previously introduced Frank Hall, formerly of Amtrak, to the community leaders. Frank is an independent station planning
consultant and is working as an adjunct to Amtrak to help expedite the process. He's been helping to outline the proper planning,
and associated budgets.
The communities along the route must also create plans to implement convenient local transportation for the passengers once they
arrive in the area. It must be made simple for passengers to get to and from where ever they wish to go. All the pieces of the puzzle
must work together seamlessly for this project to be the success we know it can be.
Things are looking great, and we continue to speak with one voice.
We extend our thanks to everyone's hard work, dedication, and cohesiveness.
We have a lot of work ahead of us, but things are definitely moving forward!
Janet Fisher and Liz Carter
Co-Chairs
The Blackhawk Area Rail Coalition, (BARC)
