The Illinois Senate today voted 59-0 to create the Illinois and Midwest High Speed Rail Commission with the intent of issuing a roadmap for the creation of bullet train lines in Illinois and neighboring states. Under General Assembly rules, such a commission can be created by a vote in just one of the two legislative chambers. No further legislative action is required.  The resolution creating the Commission, Senate Resolution 806, defines the group’s mission as “recommending the best governmental structure for a public-private partnership to design, build, operate, maintain, and finance a high-speed rail system for Illinois and the Midwest.”

The Commission is to be composed of 19 members as follows:10 public members appointed by the Governor; 3 members of the Illinois House of Representatives, 2 appointed by the Speaker of the House and one appointed by the House Minority Leader; 3 members of the Illinois Senate, 2 appointed by the Senate President and one appointed by the Senate Minority Leader; 3 ex-officio members as follows: the Illinois Secretary of Transportation; the Executive Director of the Illinois Commerce Commission; the Executive Director of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority;  Earlier this week, mayors and county officials from across Illinois issued an open letter to fellow elected officials that said, “We urge you to work actively to secure approvals and funding for the planning and implementation of a Chicago-St. Louis 220-mph high speed rail line.

This line would bring our business, research and government capitals within less than 1.5 hours of each other, and open vital new connections to O’Hare Airport.” The letter also was sent to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.  The Midwest High Speed Rail Association proposes to transform the Midwest into one cohesive, compact economic entity with a network of 220-mph bullet trains with Chicago at its heart, including a St. Louis to Chicago line that would serve Edwardsville, Springfield, Decatur, Champaign, Kankakee, the Southland, McCormick Place, Downtown Chicago and O’Hare Airport.