President Barack Obama has taken the first step to transform American high-speed rail policy by including it as a priority in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Now it’s time for the State of Illinois to transform current state policy and embrace high-speed rail.

The Illinois Senate Transportation Committee met today with representatives from the leading high speed rail operators around the world to determine the best possible way to implement high speed rail in our region.

Moving people on high-speed rail will help reduce our traffic gridlock in Northeast Illinois by taking cars off the road.  We will also strengthen our economy by linking our cities and providing an option to travelers across the state. The rest of the world is investing in high-speed rail.  Illinois must get to work.

Illinois could lead the nation in building high speed rail, just as we have led the nation in other transportation infrastructures.  The French and the Spanish have offered a great deal of information that will be instrumental as we develop a vision for high speed rail in Illinois.

The likeliest investments are for 110 mph service on existing freight rail tracks with current Amtrak service.  However, we need to look to the future now, and that future includes preparing our infrastructure for trains that can run up to 220 mph. Imagine a trip between Springfield and Chicago that takes an hour and fifteen minutes. This type of rail is being built all over the world and this is the ultimate vision – possibly within the decade– for Illinois.

I intend to continue to build consensus for a major investment in high speed rail and ensure that the State is prepared to administer what will be on the largest public works programs in our history. Such a major investment in our economic future must be done with the highest degree of transparency and accountability with public-private partnerships to protect the taxpayer investments.

After working very hard to secure $850 million in railroad infrastructure as part of Illinois’ capital program, I will turn my attention to ensure that these funds – along with significantly more federal funds – will be spent wisely to build a high speed rail network as quickly and efficiently as possible.