If there is any good news about $4 per gallon gasoline, it is that ridership on Amtrak is booming.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is working with Amtrak’s CEO to set up a summit to discuss the future of the passenger rail service in the Midwest.

Durbin wants to make sure the rail line has enough capacity to handle ridership on Illinois’ state-subsidized routes, including the Illinois Zephyr and The Carl Sandburg, which travel between Chicago and Quincy.

During a meeting earlier this week, Durbin and Amtrak CEO Alex Kummant agreed to gather rail experts and advocates to discuss Amtrak’s future in Illinois. Durbin and Kummant also agreed a plan was needed to deal with what was termed “Amtrak’s severe shortage of passenger rail cars, known as rolling stock, in Illinois and around the country.”

Ridership on the Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg routes was up 41.4 percent in fiscal 2007, compared to fiscal 2006. Ridership on Illinois state-subsidized routes increased another 180,823 passengers during the first two-thirds of fiscal year 2008, to a total of 670,605.

Durbin asked Kummant to bring five rail cars to Illinois to add capacity to those routes, as well as ones between Chicago and St. Louis and Chicago and Carbondale. Kummant has agreed to have five rail cars rehabilitated and ready for immediate use on the routes by the end of this year.

Amtrak is storing train cars that could be rehabilitated at its maintenance facilities in Delaware.

“I look forward to working with Mr. Kummant, the Board of Directors, and the State of Illinois to deal with the shortage of rail cars and to explore other resources that are necessary for Amtrak to keep up with a growing number of riders,” Durbin said in the news release.

Last week the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved $1 billion in new funding for Amtrak capital needs and $550 million for operating needs. Another $100 million was approved for capital assistance to states to promote new intercity passenger rail service and improve existing passenger rail corridors.

Galesburg Register-Mail