Rail

A planned annual 2% increase in Town of Normal water rates in each of the next six years may not be enough to maintain adequate fund balances.

After nearly four years of waiting and nominations by two different presidents, the mayor of Normal has a seat on the board of the nation's passenger rail service.

The Federal Railroad Administration is giving Illinois $95.1 million for passenger train service. Some of that will go toward the Chicago-to-St. Louis corridor that includes Bloomington-Normal, Pontiac and Lincoln in central Illinois.

The federal government has signed off on higher speed Amtrak passenger trains between Chicago and St. Louis, running through Bloomington-Normal, completing more than three decades of effort to bring high-speed rail to the state and the nation's passenger rail service.

Normal Mayor Chris Koos says a potential campus area grocery store may require both the university and town to help it succeed. And he said Tuesday that a lot more work needs to be done before such a project is ready to move forward.

The estimated price of the Uptown Underpass Project in Normal could go up by 25% because of inflation.

President Biden recently nominated the mayor of Normal to a seat on the Amtrak board, which oversees the nation's passenger rail service.

Life is about to get quieter for residents near one of the main rail lines that cuts through Bloomington.A new train horn quiet zone goes into effect…