Good news for rail fans: Recently, Illinois legislators discussed a groundbreaking bill to launch statewide train service.

Senate Bill 1901 and House Bill 3285 and would beef up the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Railroads, giving it the clout to plan, engineer, and coordinate elements of a statewide rail program. The Senate Appropriations-Public Safety and Infrastructure Committee mulled over the proposed law on April 23. The analogous House committee considered the bill on April 30.

The aim of this initiative is coordinate train and bus service all across the Prairie State. The backbone of the system would be high-speed rail between Chicago and St. Louis, and service would be aligned with local public transportation.

In addition to supersizing IDOT’s railroad bureau, the legislation would help bankroll the maintenance and construction of existing and new track and bridges. It would also help pay for electrifying track, purchasing new trainsets, and supporting ongoing operations.

Representatives of the High Speed Rail Alliance advocacy group headed to Springfield, presumably by rail, on the 30th to lobby electeds and attend the meeting.

State-level rail programs like this could be essential for growing passenger rail ridership across the country. So if Illinois has success with this effort, it could encourage other states, especially our Midwestern peers, to follow suit.