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SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13) today announced $157,126,494 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for the final segment of the Springfield Rail Improvements Project (SRIP).
The multi-phased project is a large-scale effort supported by local, state, and federal funding designed to alleviate rail congestion in downtown Springfield by consolidating train traffic from Third Street to 10th Street and constructing a series of overpasses and underpasses along the corridor.
“Connecting communities is at the heart of transportation and today’s announced federal funding for a new Amtrak Station, rail improvements, and track realignment in Springfield will better connect passengers between St. Louis and Chicago,” said Durbin. “The Springfield Rail Improvements Project is dramatically changing downtown Springfield by reducing rail congestion, creating jobs, and improving safety for passengers, drivers, and pedestrians. I will continue advocating for strong investments in Illinois’ transportation infrastructure.”
“Investing in our rail infrastructure is about growing our economy and making it easier, faster, safer and more efficient so people and goods can get where they need to go,” Duckworth said. “This significant federal investment in the Springfield Rail Improvements Project will help us build a new multimodal transportation center, improve efficiency for passengers traveling between St. Louis and Chicago, support good-paying jobs and make Springfield safer for pedestrians and drivers. I’ll keep working with Senator Durbin and Congresswoman Budzinski to ensure that our communities are receiving the much-needed federal resources they deserve.”
“The Springfield Rail Improvements Project is revitalizing our downtown by reconnecting our community, reducing rail noise and enhancing public safety. It’s also creating good-paying union jobs along the way,” said Budzinski. “I’m honored to join Senators Durbin and Duckworth to announce $157 million in federal funding to complete the final phase of this important work. This investment and the new 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument along the project’s route will honor our history and build a bright future for our city.”
This phase of the SRIP includes rail improvements, track realignment, and the construction of a new Amtrak Station in Springfield. This project will complete the final segment of track realignment to consolidate the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern corridors into one multitrack corridor through the city, which will advance the efforts to provide a higher speed intercity passenger rail connection between St. Louis and Chicago. In addition to various track improvements and grade crossing separations, the project will also construct a Multimodal Transportation Center to improve public transportation connectivity among intercity passenger rail, local bus service, and intercity bus service.
Last year, Durbin urged Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to strongly consider the SRIP for federal rail grants. Since the project’s inception, Durbin has helped to secure roughly $90 million in previous federal funding to advance the SRIP, including a 2021 RAISE grant for the Madison and Jefferson underpasses project, which was completed in August.
