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On Saturday, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced the state will provide $45 million to establish passenger-rail service from Chicago to the Quad Cities, which have not had access to passenger rail since the late 1970s.

Amtrak will provide two daily round trips from the Quad Cities. The project is one leg of a planned service extension to Iowa City, Iowa, and Omaha, Neb.

State funding will come from an “Illinois Jobs Now!” program, which aims to create jobs and spur capital improvement projects to revive the state’s ailing economy.

“This week, we were happy to receive $1.2 billion in federal money for high-speed rail that will take travelers between Chicago and St. Louis,” said Quinn in a prepared statement. “Now, we want to make sure people can travel from Chicago to Moline and beyond.”