Moline station

Moline station is a proposed train station in Moline, Illinois, for the Quad Cities train. Construction has begun, and the station is expected to be completed with rail service by 2019.[2][3]

Moline, IL
The Q in downtown Moline, which currently houses an Element Hotel by Westin, and is planned to additionally house the Amtrak station and a multi-modal transit hub[1]
Owned byCity of Moline
Line(s)Iowa Interstate Railroad
Platforms1
Tracks1
Construction
ParkingYes
Bicycle facilitiesYes
Disabled accessYes
History
OpeningTBA
Future services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Terminus Quad Cities
Proposed
 Geneseo
toward Chicago

In July 2019, a new transportation bill was passed by the Illinois state legislature, supported by Governor J.B. Pritzker, $225M was appropriated to begin this service.[4]

History

Until 1979, the Rock Island Railroad's Quad Cities Rocket, served the Quad Cities. However, due to poor on-time performance and deteriorating track conditions, ridership declined substantially, causing the state of Illinois to pull the subsidy keeping the train running, leaving the Quad Cities without passenger rail service.[5]

In 2008, efforts to restore passenger rail service to the Quad Cities were set in motion. In 2010, the City of Moline got a federal TIGER grant for construction of the station.[6] However, in early 2015, Governor Bruce Rauner put all major spending projects under review, including the Chicago-Quad Cities Amtrak line, on hold.[7] Despite this, construction on the station started in 2015, and continued throughout the period the line's future was in question.[8][9] By June 2016, under threat of losing the federal funding for the line, the state released the matching funds needed to move the project forward.[10] On February 24, 2017, it was announced that the station will be complete in August, with passenger rail service to commence soon thereafter.[11] As of November 26, 2018, no service had yet been scheduled.[12]

References
  1. "Element Westin/The Q Project | City of Moline, IL - Official Website". www.moline.il.us. Moline, Illinois. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  2. User, Super. "The Q". www.renewmoline.com. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
  3. https://illinoisrail.org/amtrak_illinois/chicago_to_quad_cities/
  4. Ketz, Jonathan (2019-10-23). "Rail group celebrates 'big win' for Amtrak line from QC to Chicago". WQAD.com. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  5. "Rock Island's Rockets". Amtrak in the Heartland. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  6. "Moline Multimodal Station TIGER II Grant". Kaskaskia Engineering Group. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  7. Simmons, Shane (2015-01-25). "Gov. Rauner's spending freeze results in 'review' of Quad City Amtrak project". WQAD-TV. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
  8. "Construction begins on Moline train station". WQAD.com. 18 August 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  9. DeWitt, Jennifer. "Construction advances on Moline train station". The Quad-City Times. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  10. Timmons, Eric (2016-06-21). "Illinois commits to Chicago-Moline passenger rail". The Dispatch / The Rock Island Argus. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
  11. awatt@qconline.com, Anthony Watt. "Officials expect The Q to be ready in May". Dispatch-Argus-QCOnline. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  12. Norris, Jim (26 November 2018). "Letter: Moline still waiting for Amtrak service". The Rock Island Dispatch-Argus. Retrieved 16 December 2018.


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