Illinois passenger trains – great news!

By email today from Rick Harnish of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association:

Late last week, the Illinois Legislature approved its FY2007 budget. It includes the largest expansion of Amtrak service in the State’s history.

Here is what we expect will result from this budget increase:

1) Chicago – Milwaukee: Remains at 7 daily roundtrips.

2) Chicago – Carbondale: Grows from 2 daily roundtrips to 3. Adds a morning northbound and a morning southbound. (100% increase in state-funded service)

3) Chicago – Quincy: Grows from 1 daily roundtrip to 2. Adds a morning westbound and an evening eastbound. (100% increase in state-funded service)

4) Chicago – St. Louis: Grows from 3 daily roundtrips to 5. Adds a morning express train southbound and a more reasonable morning departure out of St. Louis. Also, adds evening trains in both directions. (200% increase in state-funded service)

The target date for start-up is October 2006.