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"Amtrak is an important part of
our transportation system, providing an affordable travel option to
Illinois families, seniors on fixed incomes, students and members of
our armed forces," Blagojevich said. "The people of Illinois want
and use passenger rail service. That's why we fought in Washington
to maintain Amtrak's federal funding, and that's why we doubled
Illinois' commitment to ensuring we have regular passenger rail
service."
In fiscal 2006, the Illinois Department of Transportation paid
$12.1 million to Amtrak to ensure regular rail service in Illinois,
which included one round trip daily on the Chicago-Carbondale,
Chicago-Quincy and Chicago-St. Louis lines, as well as seven round
trips between Chicago and Milwaukee, which Illinois and Wisconsin
provide in partnership.
"Here in Illinois we continue to see growth in passenger rail as
gas prices hover near the $3 mark. In many communities it's the only
public transportation available, and for families and really anyone,
it makes financial sense to ride the rails and not have to worry
about gas and parking," said Department of Transportation Secretary
Timothy W. Martin. "This is further proof that passenger rail is a
vital part of our transportation system, and one of the reasons
Governor Blagojevich and lawmakers voted to increase Amtrak service,
starting later this year."
Blagojevich and lawmakers provided $24 million under the fiscal
2007 budget to increase frequencies and to pay a greater share of
the Milwaukee-to-Chicago trains. The state's goal is to have one
additional train on the Quincy and Carbondale lines and two
additional trains on the Chicago-to-St. Louis line, pending contract
negotiations with Amtrak. The new service is expected to begin this
fall, and schedules will be announced within the next several weeks.
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 "We feel that these record-setting passenger numbers give us
momentum as we plan for the new service starting this fall," said
Don Saunders, Amtrak Central Division general superintendent. "We
believe these ridership gains demonstrate we are providing quality
customer service with comfortable, reliable and affordable trains."
All state-sponsored trains posted record levels of ridership. In
figures calculated by the Department of Transportation for the
period of July 2005 through June 2006, the Chicago-Carbondale train,
the Illini, posted a 9.8 percent increase to 134,531; the
Chicago-to-St. Louis State House was up by 9.2 to 133,036; and the
Chicago-to-Quincy Illinois Zephyr rose 4.6 percent to 118,502
passengers. Figures include only the Department of
Transportation-supported trains on those routes.
The Chicago-Milwaukee service, the Hiawathas, had an increase to
total 569,460 passengers, up by 13.2 percent from last year's
494,075. The Hiawathas, run by Amtrak, are sponsored by the
Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the Illinois Department
of Transportation.
The Illinois Department of Transportation and Amtrak jointly
sponsor regular meetings with community coalitions that work to
market and otherwise support the downstate services. For more
information about the Illini, State House, Illinois Zephyr, the
Hiawathas or other Amtrak services, call (800) USA-RAIL [1 (800)
872-7245] or visit www.amtrak.com.
[News release from the governor's
office]
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