Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – More than $157 million in federal funding has been secured for the final segment of the Springfield Rail Improvements Project. U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, and U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski made the announcement Friday. The funds will come from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The multi-phased project is supported by local, state, and federal funding and is designed to alleviate rail congestion in downtown Springfield by consolidating train traffic from Third Street to 10th Street and constructing a series of overpasses and underpasses along the corridor.

“The Springfield Rail Improvements Project is dramatically changing downtown Springfield by reducing rail congestion, creating jobs, and improving safety for passengers, drivers, and pedestrians. I will continue advocating for strong investments in Illinois’ transportation infrastructure,” said Durbin.

“Investing in our rail infrastructure is about growing our economy and making it easier, faster, safer and more efficient so people and goods can get where they need to go,” Duckworth said. “This significant federal investment in the Springfield Rail Improvements Project will help us build a new multimodal transportation center, improve efficiency for passengers traveling between St. Louis and Chicago, support good-paying jobs and make Springfield safer for pedestrians and drivers.”

“The Springfield Rail Improvements Project is revitalizing our downtown by reconnecting our community, reducing rail noise and enhancing public safety. It’s also creating good-paying union jobs along the way,” said Budzinski. “This investment and the new 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument along the project’s route will honor our history and build a bright future for our city.”

This phase of the SRIP includes rail improvements, track realignment, and the construction of a new Amtrak Station in Springfield. This project will complete the final segment of track realignment to consolidate the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern corridors into one multitrack corridor through the city, which will advance the efforts to provide a higher speed intercity passenger rail connection between St. Louis and Chicago. In addition to various track improvements and grade crossing separations, the project will also construct a Multimodal Transportation Center to improve public transportation connectivity among intercity passenger rail, local bus service, and intercity bus service.

Last year, Durbin urged Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to strongly consider the SRIP for federal rail grants. Since the project’s inception, Durbin has helped to secure roughly $90 million in previous federal funding to advance the SRIP, including a 2021 RAISE grant for the Madison and Jefferson underpasses project, which was completed in August.