Newsletter 6/20/25: Illinois Transit Overhaul Could Be a Game-Changer

Illinois Transit Overhaul Could Be a Game-Changer

Just minutes before the Illinois General Assembly’s spring session ended on Saturday, May 31, the Senate passed a sweeping transit reform bill that has quietly set the stage for a potential revolution in U.S. transportation policy.

While its primary focus is restructuring transit governance and stabilizing funding for northeastern Illinois agencies like Metra, this bill includes a historic breakthrough: a dedicated funding stream for intercity passenger rail. For the Midwest—long overdue for serious investment in rail infrastructure—this is a big deal. This major development in Illinois could ripple far beyond the Midwest—reshaping how America thinks about high-speed and intercity rail.

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An Amtrak train is losing passengers in Springfield IL with the IL Capitol in the background.
La Rochelle not Bordeaux

How Railways Will Fix the Future

Speaker: Gareth Dennis, engineer and author of How the Railways Will Fix the Future

Engineer and writer Gareth Dennis will join us from the UK to discuss his new book How the Railways Will Fix the Future. In it, he looks at the history of railways (including the role they have played in extraction and exploitation) but focuses on their power to tackle issues facing us today and to shape a better future. Topics for discussion include lessons to learn from global railway operations on what works best long-term, and what this might mean in the United States.

New York City skyline

How New York Can Implement Through-Running at Penn Station in the First Half of the 21st Century

When: Friday, July 25 at 11am Central / 12 pm Eastern on Zoom

Speakers: Karim Ahmed, Senior Technical Advisor to ReThinkNYC; Dr. Robert Paaswell, Director Emeritus of the University Transportation Research Center at the City College of New York; and Samuel Turvey, Chairperson of ReThinkNYC

Implementing through-running trains via Penn Station represents a once-in-a-century opportunity to transform connectivity in the New York region, just as the subway did. It will benefit the region’s economy, environment, and quality of life. ReThinkNYC has put forward a detailed plan to do it cost effectively by mid-century. You can learn more in this talk.

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