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Earlier this week, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn reiterated his support for “super fast” trains between Chicago and St. Louis, calling high-speed rail the “wave of the future” during his state-of-the-state address.

The Midwest High Speed Rail Association (MHSRA) applauded Quinn for the high-speed mention.

“With our budget crisis and the loss of the Olympics, high-speed rail is the project to secure our state’s economic future,” according to a prepared statement issued Jan. 14. “It’s time to think big, and Gov. Quinn is doing it.”

On Jan. 14, the association released the results of a study that support adding 220 mph train service between Chicago and St. Louis. It would cut trip times between the cities to less than two hours while also serving O’Hare airport, Kankakee, Champaign, Decatur, Springfield and Edwardsville and St. Louis. The line would “grow local economies” between Chicago and St. Louis by 1 percent to 3 percent annually, according to the study.

The line also would create 26,000 jobs during seven years of construction, plus another 16,000 jobs once the service is in operation, according to the study, which was conducted by TranSystems and ESH Consult on behalf of the MHSRA. Each year, 3 million trips now taken by air, bus, car or conventional diesel trains could be transferred to the high-speed service, resulting in a net savings of 187 million pounds of CO2 emissions.

Proposed 220 mph trains to cut the Chicago to St. Louis trip to less than two hours also would provide a boost to the economy and efforts to reduce emissions, according to a study released yesterday by the Midwest High Speed Rail Association

The 220-mph line proposed by MHSRA would be the first leg of a proposed Midwest HSR 220 network, which by 2030 could link Chicago, St. Louis, the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, Detroit, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Pittsburgh, putting more than 25 million people within a three-hour train ride from Chicago.

A MHSRA study conducted earlier this year estimated that the infrastructure costs for 220 mph service between Chicago and Illinois would be $12 billion. It would cost about $70 billion to build the full Midwestern network.

The state of Illinois has requested $5 million in planning funds from the federal government for the Chicago-St. Louis link. The state would match the federal dollars.