By WMBD-TV
NORMAL – The long wait for Normal Mayor Chris Koos is over, after being nominated to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation Board of Directors in 2020, he was accepted onto the board on Monday.
Taking over the post of the former mayor of Macomb, Tom Carper, who served for 16 years, Koos filled one of eight spots available on the national board. On January 23, the U.S. Senate officially confirmed Koos to serve on the Amtrak Board of Directors. The approval comes after three and a half years of waiting.
Senator Dick Durbin said Koos has an “imminent understanding of how passenger rail can drive economic development and improve quality of life for communities.”
Bloomington-Normal’s trainstop is the second most popular post in the entire state, just behind Chicago. Koos said Amtrak has a lot of new innovations coming, but those upgrades require patience due to rebuilding infrastructure.
“Some things that we’re talking about now may not be complete for ten years. To focus in on that, the national network, the long distance trains, new passenger rail cars are going to be planned for that. But it takes time to do this.”
Even some railroad tunnels that were build in the 1800s are on the docket for repair. Koos said that implementing long distance train routes is highly beneficial to smaller, rural communities.
“Let’s take the Texas Eagle. It starts in Chicago and ends in San Antonio. What’s important is you have communities along that route, smaller communities, that may be their only access to transportation. Maybe they don’t have an airport, they may not have an interstate, and so that passenger rail up and down those smaller communities is critical.”
Senator Durbin said negotiations for an Amtrak stop in Peoria has been in negotiations for a while, but are looking to be close to a resolve.
“I think we are at a point where there’s solid local support… but I think its a solid signal that these downstate communities want Amtrak service.”
Peoria Mayor, Rita Ali, expressed her excitement for the new mode of transportation nearby.
“I’m thrilled to report that our local project, that turned into a state project, is now a federal project and its a funded project.”
The city of Peoria currently in step one of a three step plan. Step one is looking to hire a contractor and figure out the budgeting and delivery plan. Step two is creating the delivery plan. Lastly, step three is preliminary engineering and environmental analysis.
Mayor Ali said once the steps are completed, they will be entered into a pool for prioritized funding for construction and implementation. “So a train is coming to Peoria.” said Ali.
