The decision on whether passenger rail service will come to Rockford as proposed depends on the State of Illinois, not on Amtrak.
“The currently proposed service to Rockford would require state support,” Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari told WNIJ News in an e-mail. “The state will decide how much service it will contract with Amtrak to provide.”
Magliari responded to reports that Amtrak representative Ray Lang told the House Public Safety Appropriations Committee that Rockford will not get Amtrak passenger rail service any time in the near future,
WIFR news reported that State Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Freeport, said committee chairman Rep. John Cabello, R-Rockford, asked Lang whether the long-promised service would go through. The answer, according to Stewart, was a point-blank "no."
WIFR news said Cabello also confirmed the conversation.
Magliari disputed that report and laid responsibility for the decision on the state.
“As we testified in Springfield (Wednesday) afternoon and in Rockford on 2/25,” he wrote, “the budget proposed by the Governor does not contain sufficient funds for the current service levels elsewhere in the state.”
Cabello elaborated on his exchange with Lang for the Rockford Register Star. "I asked (Lang) if Amtrak is coming to Rockford, and he said, 'No,'" Cabello said. "They are federally and state funded. When their funding goes down, they have to live within their means, unlike us."
Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey told the newspaper the issue is not dead.
"To say that Amtrak is dead is misleading. Ray Lang testified the (governor's) proposed budget would not have enough funding for this year. He testified to something we already knew.
He also added, "The governor proposes the budget. It's up to the Legislature to pass the budget."
Morrissey said he will hold a news conference today to further address the issue.
Former Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, had announced in April 2014 that the passenger rail service would be coming to Rockford with the help of $200 million in state funding.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner cast doubts on that project and other infrastructure plans when he put all such projects on hold for a budget review.
Last week, the Illinois Department of Transportation acting Secretary Randall Blankenhorn sent a letter to area legislators asking for patience until the funding could be reviewed.
"The Illinois Department of Transportation is currently examining the costs and benefits of this project to the taxpayers of the state," he wrote. "In the interim, it is important that project stakeholders understand the status of this project and the possibility that it may or may not be terminated."