Governor Culver will board the "Iowa Unlimited" train again this weekend to promote the idea of expanded passenger rail service in Iowa.
In campaign-style form, Culver will board the train in Iowa City on Sunday, then ride the rails to West Liberty, Durant, Walcott and Moline, Illinois.
On Monday, Culver will take the train to Chicago where he will attend the Midwest High Speed Rail Summit. Culver is pressing for expanded passenger rail service out of Chicago to Dubuque and another line that would allow passenger traffic to flow from Chicago to the Quad Cities and eventually to Des Moines.
An Amtrak analysis indicates it would cost $32 million to extend service from Chicago to Iowa City. Competition for federal economic stimulus dollars reserved for passenger rail service is fierce and Amtrak officials say they won’t have their analysis of the Iowa City to Des Moines leg done for at least another year.