Here's a couple pictures for now, I'll try and write a little something on this subject sometime this weekend. The meeting was packed, which sends a real message about our desire for Amtrak in the QC area. Hopefully Senator Durbin makes this a high priority. I had almost forgot Illinois had another senator...
19 comments:
I would love Amtrak passenger service here. I have relative in Chicago and would live to hop on the train to get there. Considering it is cheaper then the gas and tolls and I have a safe place to park my car while I am gone.
It would be a perfect re-use of the Freight House building.
I kind of agree, but the Freight House is a parking lot's width away from the railroad tracks. I suppose they could put in a new siding or something, or build a large station platform.
Union Station seems even more logical to me. I'm sure the CVB could find another home. (in the Freight House?)
Amtrack would need to provide some sort of secured parking with an attendant on duty 24 hours a day. Too bad that we can't count on the city parking ramps being safe, or that would be a good use to try and fill them up.
Lets get Keith on it. From reading these blogs it seems he has super powers.
Super powers like the Wonder Twins or like Wendy and Marvin?
At the Amtrak stops I've used, all the parking is locally managed. Amtrak does nothing to support or control the parking.
First we get Amtrak service and then we push for high speed train service into Chicago so we can become an official commuter stop.
And why can't it be on the IL side? If the Abbey Station can't be bought out then the old Armory would be a great site for this.
Unfortunately, the Freight House and Union Station would not be used as the terminal for the new train. The train would not use these tracks. First of all, for the train to use these facilities, it would have to go through Clinton, and the Union Pacific has stated they will not allow passenger trains on this route. The current planning is to use the BNSF line (which currently has Amtrak service)to Wyanet, Illinois (a few miles west of Princeton, IL), where a to connection to the Iowa Interstate would have to be constructed. The BNSF currently goes over the IAIS tracks. It is my understanding, that when the transportion facility accross for the Mark was constructed, a provision was made to turn part of the building into a rail passenger station. So the terminus for the Quad Cities would be in Moline. It would also have to use the IAIS if in the future the train would be extended to Des Moines, but Iowa would have to provide funding for that to happen.
The real trick will be for the city leaders to follow through on what will have to happen if the train link becomes reality. Chicago has the attractions and transportation infrastructure to allure our population. We have attractions, but people coming from Chicago will be used to a higher level of public transportation than our region is accustomed to providing. If the train is to be a successful “interchange” between Chicago and the Quad Cities: the local leaders will have to take a long hard look at our public transportation and the probable need to help spur our independent taxi services to improve. If you give people a reason to come, they will. But if you want the service to be continuously successful you have to find a reason for them to keep coming and make the connection a payoff for the train in both directions.
Maybe it's a blessing that the Amtrack Station will be in Moline instead of Davenport. The way our Administrator does things, he'd hire a 'Amtrack Coordinator' at $100,000, plus 4 parking lot attendants at $50,000 each, then turn around and scratch his head when nobody would park in the Freighthouse Lot and pay $50 to park. Thanks to Moline for their insight when they built their Transportation Center. Saved us all kinds of money and problems.
The Amtrak would be great for our community, I hope we can bring it to Iowa side of the river. Though I am a lttle suppried that someone hasn't mentioned "running them out on the rail" comment yet.
It's a waste of money. Where are all the "let private business people, carry their own weight"...
AMTRAK is and has always been a federal subsidy for the east coast.
I think it would be great for us and should be promoted.
What mode of powered transportation isn't subsidized?
I'm concerned that there would not be enough ridership on a sustained basis. To most in the QC, any form of public transportation is scary. They won't leave their beloved car ( until gas hits $6-7 per gallon, which I predict will be in about 5 years).
Yeah, but driving in Chicago is scary to a lot of QC folks also. I don't think at this time any kind of light rail inter-QC system would work, but I think a lot of people would willingly miss out on driving into Chicago. I know I would most of the time.
This is a great deal. The cost for a train trip will be far less than driving and parking in Chicago overnight. Overnight parking can run more than $30/night alone. Having a car in the city is a real pain, especially downtown and in Lincoln Park.
I take Amtrak to Chicago every time I go. I drive to Princeton (Illinois) where I have my choice of four trains a day. Cost is $24 round trip, much cheaper than the gas to drive the rest of the way, tolls and parking. I don't have the hassle of the Eisenhower, and I can work on the way in and way out. It takes an hour to drive to Princeton and last week when I rode, the Princeton to Union Station trip took 1 hour, 40 minutes for a total of two hours and 40 minutes, less than the drive time. Parking in Princeton is free and safe, and it makes a lot more sense to drive there than to Galesburg. Even though Galesburg is 15 minutes closer by car, you're spending an additional hour on the train and the tickets are 50% more. I've always had pretty good luck with the trains being on time, but the interstate Amtrak trains can be late on the way in. They originate in Chicago so are seldom late headed out of the City. The intrastate trains, the Carl Sandberg and the Illinois Zephyr, are on time 99% of the time.
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