Service type Inter-city rail Locale Illinois Start Chicago, Illinois | Status Proposed Current operator(s) Amtrak End Moline, Illinois | |
The Quad Cities is a planned Amtrak intercity rail route which will run from Chicago, Illinois, to Moline, Illinois. It will be a part of the Illinois Service. This train will follow the routing of Carl Sandburg and Illinois Zephyr to Princeton and will split off at Wyanet, Illinois, stopping at Geneseo and Moline using track from BNSF and the Iowa Interstate Railroad.
Background
Originally, the Rock Island provided passenger service in the Quad Cities under the Quad Cities Rocket train. Passenger service to Chicago continued until December 31, 1978.
In 2008, the two current United States Senators from Iowa, Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley; Illinois Senator Dick Durbin; and former Senator Barack Obama sent a letter to Amtrak asking them to begin plans to bring rail service to the Quad Cities. In October 2010, a $230 million federal fund was announced that will bring Amtrak service to the Quad Cities, with a new line running from Moline to Chicago. They had hoped to have the line completed in 2015, and to offer two daily round trips to Chicago. In December 2011, the federal government awarded $177 million in funding for the Amtrak connection.
In 2015, Illinois governor Bruce Rauner announced a spending freeze that placed both the proposed train service and the Black Hawk under review by the IDOT. After being on hold for over a year, IDOT moved forward with the project in order to prevent losing the $177 million in federal funding for the passenger service.