'The stars have aligned': New plan revealed for passenger rail from Peoria to Chicago

PEORIA — City leaders on Thursday announced the results of a feasibility study for a passenger rail line from Chicago to Peoria.

The proposed project would bring passenger rail service to Peoria at an estimated cost of $2.54 billion. The new route, provided by Amtrak, would make stops in Joliet, Morris, Ottawa, Utica and LaSalle-Peru before terminating in Peoria, the largest metropolitan area in Illinois without rail service.

The study was conducted by the Illinois Department of Transportation at the request of a Passenger Rail Committee established in August 2021 by Peoria Mayor Rita Ali. The committee includes former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, U.S. Reps. Cheri Bustos and Darin LaHood, and IDOT Secretary of Transportation Omer Osman, among others.

How will it be paid for?

Speaking at a press conference Thursday, Ray LaHood told reporters that "the stars really have aligned properly" for an Amtrak line to Peoria, citing the recent passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which allocated $66 billion in additional federal funds for passenger and freight rail projects over the next five years. He said that committee members have met with federal transportation officials and the CEO of Amtrak. LaHood believes they are "well positioned" to secure federal funding for the project.

Previously:Proposed Peoria Amtrak route unveiled. Here are the next steps to restore train travel

"It takes an enormous amount of effort and money to make it happen," he said. "We not only have a good plan and a good survey, and the interest from our community, but we have interest at the federal level."

Passenger rail service to Peoria ended in 1978 when the Rock Island Railroad stopped service to the area, and Peoria's leaders have long sought to bring it back. In 2011, IDOT conducted a feasibility study on a possible commuter line between East Peoria and Bloomington, and predicted that the addition would be expensive and would result in heavy financial losses. The plan was eventually scrapped.

Committee members are optimistic that this new plan will work. Even so, Ray LaHood warned that the project would take several years to complete and might wind up costing even more than the $2.54 billion price tag. Completing the project will require the rehabilitation of disused sections of the old Rock Island line, the improvement of bridges and crossings, and the construction of new stations along the route. The $2.54 billion figure does not include costs associated with the portion of the line that will run from Joliet to Chicago, which has not yet been determined.

Ali said that the next step is for the committee to bring its plans to the Federal Railroad Administration to be considered for inclusion in the Corridor Identification and Development Program. The program, established after the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, is working to start a pipeline of railroad infrastructure projects that are ready for funding.

What's in the report?

As part of the feasibility study, a public survey was conducted that found broad support for the proposed passenger rail line. Out of over 31,000 respondents to the survey, 83.2% said they were "very likely" to use the proposed rail line. A further 11.4% said that they were "somewhat likely" to do so.

For subscribers:What's stopping Amtrak from coming to Peoria? Time, money and history

The team behind the report used data from existing Amtrak schedules to put together a hypothetical timetable for the proposed Chicago-Peoria line. Under the projected timetable, passengers boarding in Peoria would be able to reach Chicago in just over two and a half hours.

The report projects a daily ridership for the new line of between 280 and 820 people, using data from 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic began skewing travel statistics. Daily ridership numbers are projected to grow to between 320 and 860 people in 2040.