DeKalb County Board backs regional Amtrak feasibility study

SYCAMORE – The DeKalb County Board this month voted in favor of supporting a regional study that would look into the feasibility of returning passenger rail service to DeKalb County.

DeKalb County officials said they were recently approached by representatives of a group seeking to revive the Twin Cities Zephyr Amtrack route, which previously ran through DeKalb County, between Chicago and East Dubuque, more than four decades ago.

DeKalb County Board Chairman Ellingworth Webb said he likes the idea of passenger rail service returning to DeKalb County, but he doesn’t know if northern Illinois could sustain the old route.

“I think [passenger rail] would be a good idea,” Webb said. “First, I think we need to do a feasibility study to look at costs, and the viability of how it would work.”

With a voice vote, the DeKalb County Board fully endorsing a federal or state funded feasibility study examining the economic viability of reviving the Twin Cities Zephyr, a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway passenger rail service with stops in Chicago, DeKalb, Rochelle, Oregon, Savanna, West Galena and East Dubuque.

Vice Chair John Frieders, a Republican County Board member from District 12, cast the lone dissenting vote.

In January, the DeKalb City Council also affirmed the city’s commitment to supporting the same feasibility study.

There was no county funding tied to the March 20 vote on the feasibility study, according to DeKalb County documents.

Webb said he’s taken long distance passenger rail services a variety of times in his life, and is a fan of the mode of transportation.

“I’ve taken rail services from Chicago to New York, to Atlanta, to Washington D.C., so I think it’s a good way to get from point A to point B. Also, its nice and scenic, you see the countryside and have a relaxing trip,” Webb said. “I think for right now we’re really just trying to get as much information as possible, and then we can look at what does that mean to the constituents.”