Moline station
Moline station is a proposed train station in Moline, Illinois, for the Quad Cities train. Construction has begun, and the station is expected to be completed with rail service by 2019.[1][2]
Moline, IL | ||||||||||||||||
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Owned by | City of Moline | |||||||||||||||
Line(s) | Iowa Interstate Railroad | |||||||||||||||
Platforms | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Tracks | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Construction | ||||||||||||||||
Parking | Yes | |||||||||||||||
Bicycle facilities | Yes | |||||||||||||||
Disabled access | Yes | |||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||
Opening | TBA | |||||||||||||||
Services | ||||||||||||||||
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In July 2019, a new transportation bill was passed by the Illinois state legislature, supported by Governor J.B. Pritzker, $225M was appropriated to begin this service.[3]
History
Until 1979, the Rock Island Railroad's Quad Cities Rocket, served the Quad Cities. However, due to poor on-time performance and deteriorating track conditions, ridership declined substantially, causing the state of Illinois to pull the subsidy keeping the train running, leaving the Quad Cities without passenger rail service.[4]
In 2008, efforts to restore passenger rail service to the Quad Cities were set in motion. In 2010, the City of Moline got a federal TIGER grant for construction of the station.[5] However, in early 2015, Governor Bruce Rauner put all major spending projects under review, including the Chicago-Quad Cities Amtrak line, on hold.[6] Despite this, construction on the station started in 2015, and continued throughout the period the line's future was in question.[7][8] By June 2016, under threat of losing the federal funding for the line, the state released the matching funds needed to move the project forward.[9] On February 24, 2017, it was announced that the station will be complete in August, with passenger rail service to commence soon thereafter.[10] As of November 26, 2018, no service had yet been scheduled.[11]
References
- User, Super. "The Q". www.renewmoline.com. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
- https://illinoisrail.org/amtrak_illinois/chicago_to_quad_cities/
- Ketz, Jonathan (2019-10-23). "Rail group celebrates 'big win' for Amtrak line from QC to Chicago". WQAD.com. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
- "Rock Island's Rockets". Amtrak in the Heartland. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- "Moline Multimodal Station TIGER II Grant". Kaskaskia Engineering Group. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- Simmons, Shane (2015-01-25). "Gov. Rauner's spending freeze results in 'review' of Quad City Amtrak project". WQAD-TV. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
- "Construction begins on Moline train station". WQAD.com. 18 August 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- DeWitt, Jennifer. "Construction advances on Moline train station". The Quad-City Times. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- Timmons, Eric (2016-06-21). "Illinois commits to Chicago-Moline passenger rail". The Dispatch / The Rock Island Argus. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
- awatt@qconline.com, Anthony Watt. "Officials expect The Q to be ready in May". Dispatch-Argus-QCOnline. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- Norris, Jim (26 November 2018). "Letter: Moline still waiting for Amtrak service". The Rock Island Dispatch-Argus. Retrieved 16 December 2018.