Iowa City to Chicago passenger rail service may be announced Thursday

Backers of a plan to restore passenger rail service to Iowa City will be watching Thursday's announcement on how $8 billion in federal stimulus funds will be used to develop high-speed rail corridors.

Tammy Nicholson, rail planner for the Iowa Department of Transportation, said the proposals for passenger service between Chicago and Iowa City and Chicago and Dubuque are both included in plans for a Midwest high-speed rail system built around a Chicago hub.

The joint application for federal stimulus funds last October by Illinois and Iowa transportation officials seeks $233 million for the Iowa City project.

A study by Amtrak released last year found improving Iowa Interstate Railroad tracks to allow 79-mph would allow a five-hour running time between Chicago and Iowa City , drawing 187,000 riders a year on two round trips a day. A plan by the nine-state Midwest Regional Rail Initiative calls for the route to Iowa City, and eventually west to Des Moines and Omaha, to eventually be upgraded to allow 110-mph running.

If approved, equipment would be ordered and engineering studies conducted next year. The first trains would roll over the route in 2014.

The Iowa Legislature has appropriated $3 million for the project, Illinois $5 million.