PEORIA, Ill. – Thursday is the day you can give your public input on, if it comes to fruition, where a passenger rail train depot and transportation hub can be located in Peoria.
An open house will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Gateway Building on Northeast Water Street.
“What we saw is that people would definitely want to take it, some people more than others,” City Manager Patrick Urich told WMBD’s Craig Collins about a survey recently conducted asking, among other things, if people would utilize Amtrak if a route between Chicago and Peoria was formed. “Some people were saying they would absolutely take it weekly. Others would say once a month they would take the train. Others would say periodically.”
The Gateway Building is one of three potential areas for a transportation hub.
“The second would be the old River Station…that was the Rock Island depot line that we are looking at,” said Urich. “The third location would be looking at the Postal Service offices and building, which is down on State Street.”
It might almost be “now or never” for efforts to return a passenger rail line to Peoria.
“It’s the best chance that we’ve had to do it,” said Urich. “The reason is, the federal government has put more money toward passenger rail and toward new passenger rail service than ever before.”
That’s due to the recent federal infrastructure bill signed in to law.
