“Gov. Chet Culver said Iowa will receive a $230 million federal grant to re-establish rail passenger service between Iowa City and Chicago. Culver said he learned of the grant just before his appearance at a Rotary Club meeting in Cedar Rapids on Monday…”
http://thegazette.com/2010/10/25/culver-feds-to-back-iowa-city-chicago-rail-service/
Note comments concerning timing.
So, regardless of the political posturing, is the route itself worth development or not?
I read this as $230 million to do the line from Iowa City to the Quad cities- about 59 miles.(?) And, he’s calling it high speed rail. What do you get for $3.89 million per mile, including, apparantly, new stations along the way?
I think the $230 M is for the entire route, not just from the Quad Cities to Iowa City. The article I read in link to the DM paper said new stations would be established at Geneseo and Moline in Illinois and Iowa City in Iowa along the former RI (IAIS) portion of the route. (I’m surprised at Geneseo. Although it was a stop up until the end of the RI’s passenger service in 1978, it’s just east of the Quad Cities.)
I think you’ll see Chicago - Quad Cities service in the future. I still think the Iowa portion depends on the outcome of the next election.
Jeff
It sounds like the grant is just a down payment. Likewise, Florida’s HSR project is being put forth on a grant from the federal government, but requiring a serious contribution from Florida residents to make it happen.
I’m sure we’ve had this discussion before–some people will say that the project is worth it, others will say it isn’t. I would hope that if it comes into being it will be allowed to demonstrate its worth. We’re taling two daily round trips into this new territory…I wish they’d had the foresight to do things like this on other expansion routes like Chicago to Grand Rapids.
The $230 million isn’t all for Iowa. I think that’s the entire grant, to be spread out over the entire route from Iowa City to Wyanet. You’ll need the connecting track at Wyanet (that’s a grade-separated crossing at the present time), probably additional trackage in certain spots–second track for meeting and passing trains. The track needs to be upgraded significantly to bring it to 79 m.p.h. And you’ll need signal upgrades for the whole thing–not only block signals compatible with passenger train speeds, but for the Positive Train Control requirements.
Can you buy an extra lane in each direction on I-80 for three or four million bucks a mile? (Not a rhetorical question–I don’t know!)
With good schedules, you might be able to attract some gamblers to the boats at the Quad Cities. This might be true from Iowa, as well as from Mendota, Princeton, and any other stops the new trains might make, but gambling traffic from Chicago shouldn’t be counted on. Besides the big university in Iowa City, there’s also Augustana College in Rock Island. I had no idea that Chicago contributed so much to the U. of I., but that’s a lot of students!
Since the $239 mil. is for the entire stretch from Iowa City to Wyanet (115 miles) , that works out to just over $2 mil. per mile. FHWA’s Highway Economic Requirements System (HERS) includes input values for the typical costs of a variety if highway improvements, including the cost of adding a lane to
an existing highway. Separate cost factors are used for urban and rural areas. In rural areas, costs depend upon highway functional class (Interstates, arterial roads, and collectors) and terrain type, and range from $1.6 million to $3.1 million per lane-mile. So for one lane each direction, the Interstate would cost $3.2 to $6.1 mil. per mile, higher in the Quad Cities. The rail is cheaper.
Something I do not understand. Since the MSR projects that are in the works for the most part will not be train ready until 2014 or 2015 so why is 79 MPH (class 4 track) so set in stone?. Since at the end of 2015 as of now will mandate PTC why isn’t the track where possible built for class 5 or class 6 status so 110 MPH sprints can be accomplished?
Am I missing something, or is there an easy way to quote one sentence in the middle of 2 paragraphs on this stupid new forum software?[:(!]
Interesting that you mention this in relationship to the cost of adding a new lane on an interstate. In reality, for comparison, aren’t we talking about rail traffic that would only be the equivilent of 4 or 5 Greyhound buses?
While it would be really neat to see new service to Iowa City (and possibly out to Des Moines and C
I’m not so sure the cost would be less. UP says it won’t take on passenger service that interferes with its freight operations. So a project to put a train on this route would be plenty costly. For starters, a third track from Elburn through Nelson at least, as well as some places in Iowa.
Also, remember that this project is actually a combination of heretofore-separate efforts by the states in question to restore service. Don’t you think Illinois would have considered Quad Cities service that included Elmhurst or Wheaton, Geneva, DeKalb, Rochelle, Dixon, and Clinton before cutting down to Davenport over CP, if it were even considered to be a possibility? (Now that I think about it, probably not…Davenport’s in Iowa, an
This is one of the two important questions, the other being whether development can be done for a price that’s worth paying.
Chicago-Quad Cities is probably a good candidate. (Maybe Rock Island is far enough; Davenport should be able to trip across the river to ride). On to Iowa City (and maybe later west, per a new story today)? I’m not so sure.
The U of Iowa is supposed to be the drawing card in I.C., but I have my doubts. When I was a student there 50 years ago, students swarmed the trains at Christmas time, but that was about it. Fall and spring, there was their stuff to shuffle, and parents used the new Interstate 80. Also, the "Big O,’ Ozark Airlines, provided direct service to Chicago.
Today, you’ve got to go to Cedar Rapids to fly, but more students have cars, and I wonder how much work it would be to get them to go down to the depot again. Rail might also be a long shot for the kind of visitors (speakers, consultants, etc.) a university attracts. After all this time … and with an estimated travel time of “just under 5 hours” Chi to I.C.
When I was riding the old Rock, No. 7, the westbound Rocky Mountain Rocket, made the 237 miles in 234 minutes. That was one sweet ride.
As for the Iowa Interstate, I’m not surprised Henry Posner would be only too tickled to have federal taxpayers upgrade his railroad for him!