Following the excellent news last week that both the House and Senate passed an authorization to expand high-speed passenger rail service, the Tribune's Jon Hilkevitch ponders what a boost in funds could do in the Midwest:

The ambitious project proposed for the Midwest would cover 3,000 miles in nine states. All lines would radiate from a hub in downtown Chicago. The cost of a fully completed Midwest network is estimated at almost $8 billion.

Planners envision the line running from Chicago up through Milwaukee, Madison, the Twin Cities and eventually Duluth, while separate routes from Chicago would extend east to Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Those planners are officials from the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative (MWRRI). Created in 1996 and consisting of representatives from the Federal Railroad Administration and nine Midwest states (Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin), MWRRI's 2004 plan (PDF) calls for incremental improvements to 3,000 miles of existing rail lines as well as the construction of multi-modal connections and the introduction of modern trains operating at speeds up to 110 miles per hour. A map of the corridor's proposed reach -- which would put 90 percent of Midwesterners within a one hour ride of a high-speed rail station -- is available here. As Hilkevitch points out, the trains would be "modern, comfortable, double-deck trains with wide seats and large windows."  They would also cut down trip times substantially, reducing a jaunt from Chicago to St. Louis from 5.5 hours to 3 hours, 49 minutes, for example.

Of course, transit enthusiasts shouldn't get their hopes up just yet. Congress, who would cover 80 percent of the project's cost, hasn't appropriated any money for the bill. Each state would need to fork over an additional 20 percent worth of matching fees as well, a worry for Illinoians frustrated with gridlock in the captial. But considering that 13.6 million passengers are expected to ride the rails per year by 2025, now is not the time to wait.