InvestigationSeptember 16, 2026
Chicago-Quad Cities passenger rail: $230M awarded in 2010, still no trains in 2026
Amtrak service between Chicago and the Quad Cities was promised to start in 2015. Sixteen years after the federal award, the Iowa Interstate Railroad segment only reached preliminary engineering in 2024 — and the underlying federal funding is now at risk of expiring.
Source award
Illinois Department of Transportation — $230,000,000 from FRA-HSIPR, FY2010.
Sources (3)
- https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-harkin-announce-230-million-in-funding-for-new-rail-service-from-chicago-to-iowa-city-through-the-quad-cities
“$230 million in federal funding... The project – scheduled for completion in 2015... service scheduled to begin in 2015”
- https://iaisrr.com/proposed-chicago-to-quad-cities-passenger-service-update/
“Iowa Interstate Railroad (IAIS), Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), BNSF Railway, and Amtrak formally agreed on the Preliminary Engineering plans... September 30, 2024”
- https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-duckworth-sorensen-call-on-dot-fra-to-extend-federal-funding-for-chicago-quad-cities-passenger-rail-project
“federal funding for the project is set to expire on July 31, 2026”
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