PEORIA, Ill. – Mayor Rita Ali on Friday will speak with former Peoria-area Congressman and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood about including Peoria in high-speed passenger rail service.
Ali has before spoke of the importance and benefits of high-speed rail, while Lahood served as the Transportation Secretary from 2009 to 2013.
“This is something that I was obviously working on a lot when I was secretary with President Obama. Because, we had $8 billion that we spread around the country for rail,” LaHood said.
He told WMBD’s “The Greg and Dan Show”, a study under Mayor Jim Ardis previously looked at creating a rail system from Peoria to Chicago, and light rail from Peoria to Normal, where people could get on the train in Normal.
Last week Ali sent letters to U.S. representatives urging them to make sure any infrastructure bill passed by Congress has major funding for rail infrastructure.
Some benefits of high speed-rail listed by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) include affordability and efficiency, energy-efficiency, and the creation of jobs.
Amtrak currently does not serve Peoria. The closest stop is Galesburg.
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