Representatives Bruce Braley and Phil Hare held a press conference today in Moline, Illinois to express the importance of federal stimulus money for the development of rail between Chicago and the Quad Cities. They each signed a letter to US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood asking him for this stimulus money.

The letter sited the several benefits that would accompany rail service. It reads, “In the Quad-Cities alone, an estimated 550 to 825 jobs will be created, household income is expected to increase by $11 million to $16 million, and property values will increase between $55 million and $72 million.”

Braley and Hare each stressed the importance of passenger rail for the Quad Cities area and how necessary it will be to receive this stimulus money.

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