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Yesterday, Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.), Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig and local officials announced full federal, state and local funding for the Moline Transportation Center in Moline, Ill., which will serve as an Amtrak station for trains moving between Chicago and the Quad Cities.

The $16.6 million project will be funded by a $10 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant, $5 million state grant and $1.6 million in matching local dollars.

Slated to open in late 2012, the station will be built across from the existing Centre Station and connected via a pedestrian walkway. The Moline Transportation Center will accommodate passenger-rail, public transit, car rental and water taxi services to enable passengers to use several modes.

Project design and engineering will begin in winter with construction starting in spring 2011.

The station is part of a plan to add Amtrak service from Chicago to Iowa City, and ultimately to Omaha, Neb. In January, the state of Illinois committed $45 million to construct a necessary connection between Iowa Interstate Railroad Ltd. and BNSF Railway Co. for Quad Cities service.

Amtrak expects service from Chicago to the Quad Cities to begin in about two years, marking the first service to the cities since 1979.