Quinn Speaks From Washington on High Speed Rail

Governor Pat Quinn, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, and members of the Illinois Congressional delegation held a "media availability" day in Washington Wednesday. The number one topic? High Speed Rail.

Quinn and Durbin answered questions on a few other topics during the monthly Illinois delegation luncheon, such as Futurgen. But with the announcement of Federal funding for High Speed Rail still hanging in the balance, that subject clearly took center stage.

The Governor told reporters about a meeting he recently held in Chicago, gathering all the Governors from neighboring Midwest states. He explained that every state has their own plans for High Speed Rail, and those plans were submitted to the Federal Government in hopes of obtaining a piece of the multi-billion dollar pie being sliced and served by Uncle Sam for expanded transportation nationwide. But those individual plans have also come together to form one uniform, long term plan. Quinn says this will increase the odds that more funding will come to our area cumulatively.

"I'm very optimistic because we have a careful plan that we've worked on for a decade. And this is a job creator, if there ever was one, for the Land of Lincoln" explained Quinn, who says railroads have always been an important business for Illinois in terms of transportation, jobs, and tax revenue. He referred to the new High Speed Rail plan as "going back to the future."

Quinn also was asked about the possibility of expanding high speed rail from Chicago to Kansas City in a separate service route from the Chicago to St. Louis corridor. Quinn says both routes are in the plan, and both are very much a possibility as long as the states work closely together.

The Governor wrapped up the press conference on a light-hearted note.

"If we have high speed trains going from Chicago to Springfield to St. Louis, Cubs fans are going to get to see the Cardinals lose!" he joked. "I shouldn't say that because there are a lot of Illinois Red Bird fans." The crowd continued to chuckle as Quinn added "well, at least theyll get to play together and I'm sure people will enjoy the experience!"
Quinn Speaks From Washington on High Speed Rail

Posted: Wednesday, November 4 2009, 04:27 PM CST