Bill Text: IL HR1188 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Directs the Illinois Department of Transportation to study the merits of acquiring additional passenger railcars in advance of the Next Generation deliveries and issue a written report of its findings.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HR1188 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HR1188-Introduced.html

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HR1188 LRB097 22255 GRL 70997 r
HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Many State-supported passenger trains in Illinois
currently are operating at full capacity; and
WHEREAS, Passenger train demand has doubled in the last 5
years and continues to grow; and
WHEREAS, The federal government has provided Illinois and
the Midwest states with capital grants to acquire new
"Next-Generation" passenger trains; and
WHEREAS, The "Next-Generation" train order is designed to
replace, not supplement, the number of trains in service; and
WHEREAS, The State of Illinois will not be able to
accommodate increased ridership solely through the use of
"Next-Generation" trains; and
WHEREAS, Federal law has mandated that states shall begin
to make capital payments for trains in service as of October
2013; and
WHEREAS, The State of Illinois' capital payments can favor
the continued growth and reduced cost of its State-supported
passenger trains; and

HR1188 - 2 - LRB097 22255 GRL 70997 r
WHEREAS, The State of Illinois can increase its ridership
capacity by directing these capital payments to high-speed,
high-capacity trains that are interoperable with the State's
"Next-Generation" train specification to supplement
"Next-Generation" trains; and
WHEREAS, The State of Illinois may offset the capital
payments for these trains by selling more tickets made
available by the greater number of seats on these trains;
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
in order to address the above capacity and cost issues, the
Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) shall develop a
strategy to acquire additional passenger railcars in advance of
the Next Generation deliveries and shall deliver an action plan
to implement this strategy; and be it further
RESOLVED, That any trains used to supplement the current
fleet must be able to operate at speeds of 110 MPH, must have a
high-capacity of over 72 seats per coach, must be interoperable
with the State's "Next-Generation" train specification, and
must be delivered in advance of the receipt of the State's
"Next-Generation" trains; and be it further

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RESOLVED, That IDOT shall deliver the action plan in
writing no later than 30 days from adoption of this resolution
to the members of the Illinois House of Representatives, the
Governor of the State of Illinois, the Illinois Director of
Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and the Director of the
Governor's Office of Management and Budget.