Bill Text: IL HR0529 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Declares November 3, 2021 as Amtrak Anniversary Day in the State of Illinois. Recognizes the work in 1971 and again in 2006 that resulted in this region of Illinois having vital passenger train connections to and from Chicago and cities in Western and North-Central Illinois. Urges the cities on the route to continue to work with each other, Amtrak, the Illinois Department of Transportation, and others to maintain and improve the local Amtrak service that is such an asset to the communities it serves.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-10-26 - Referred to Rules Committee [HR0529 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HR0529-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The U.S. Congress passed a law that transferred
the requirement of the railroads to operate passenger trains
to the federally-owned National Railroad Passenger Corporation
in 1970; and
WHEREAS, When the U.S. Department of Transportation drew
maps defining where these Amtrak trains would go, they did not
include local service in Illinois between Quincy and Chicago,
which included Macomb, Galesburg, Kewanee, Princeton, Mendota,
Plano, and the Chicago suburbs, and the service ended on May
11, 1971; and
WHEREAS, When interested parties in Macomb and Quincy lost
their fight against the law in federal court, they then asked
the State of Illinois to sponsor the service, worked with
communities along the route, and convinced the Illinois
General Assembly and Governor to sponsor daily local Amtrak
service under the Illinois Department of Transportation; and
WHEREAS, The morning eastbound and evening westbound
Illinois Zephyr trains have operated since November 4, 1971;
and
WHEREAS, This region of Illinois has benefited from being

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the longest continuously operated state-supported train in the
Amtrak network for 50 years; and
WHEREAS, These same communities banded together to create
the Amtrak Carl Sandberg train in 2006, with departures
westbound in the morning and eastbound in the evening,
doubling local service on the route; this route is marking its
15th anniversary this year; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we declare November 3, 2021 as Amtrak Anniversary Day in the
State of Illinois; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we recognize the work in 1971 and again in
2006 that resulted in this region of Illinois having vital
passenger train connections to and from Chicago and cities in
Western and North-Central Illinois; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we urge the cities on the route to continue
to work with each other, Amtrak, the Illinois Department of
Transportation, and others to maintain and improve the local
Amtrak service that is such an asset to the communities it
serves; and be it further
RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be

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presented to the mayors of Quincy, Macomb, Galesburg, Kewanee,
Princeton, Mendota, Plano, Naperville, and LaGrange.