A recent Tri-County Regional Planning Commission meeting with federal and state legislators triggered the "hot button" of rail service in Peoria. After an IDOT study revealed it's wasn't currently feasible for a Peoria to Normal train, IDOT offered to pay for a study to consider a temporary bus shuttle to the Twin Cities. Tri-County narrowly vote that down.
But, during the legislative meeting, lawmakers sugggested Tri-County might want to reconsider. It seems IDOT looks at a bus as a stepping stone to future passeneger rail. State Senator Dave Koehler says it's a matter of seeing if there is interest. Some Tri-County members think people would not board a bus, they would just drive to either Normal or Galesburg to board Amtrak.
Koehler says he understands, but it might be better to work on filling a shuttle bus to create a need for Amtrak in Peoria. Peoria is the largest metropolitan region in Illinois without direct Amrtrak access.
