Gretchen Teske , Grace Kinnicutt Feb 27, 2023
The future of Moline's long-planned passenger rail to Chicago now appears to rest with Amtrak.
Moline Mayor Sangeetha Rayapati announced Monday that negotiations had broken down between the Illinois Department of Transportation and Iowa Interstate Railroad in the state's quest to access the rail line for Moline-to-Chicago passenger service.
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About $400 million in state and federal funding is committed to the downtown project, but it is contingent upon cooperation with Iowa Interstate Railroad, or IAIS. The stopper, the mayor said, is money.
The rail company keeps "moving the goal post" in negotiations with the state, the mayor said, adding, "It always comes down to money."
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The best hope for the project now is to get Amtrak, the passenger rail carrier, to go to bat for them, local and state officials said.
State Sen. Mike Halpin said at Monday's news conference that federal law gave Amtrak the authority to appeal the matter to the Surface Transportation Board.
"Passenger rail is supposed to have priority under federal law," Halpin said.
The federal law that allows this oversight has been in play for about 25 years, he said. Generally, Amtrak and the DOT prefer to meet and negotiate how federal and state governments can contribute to improving the project. Being called upon by public officials is unusual, he said.
“We have certainly offered to assist Illinois DOT in these negotiations,” Amtrak spokesperson Marc Magliari said. “We have made the offer several times.”
Asked whether the Illinois DOT had taken up Amtrak’s offer, Magliari declined to say.
A statement issued Monday afternoon by IDOT, however, indicates the agency has been in talks with Amtrak.