Hunter
10/21/24
A commuter railway between Iowa City and North Liberty is back on the table.
The Daily Iowan reports the century old Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Rail Line, or CRANDIC, currently runs freight from north of the Iowa City area to Cedar Rapids. At one point, it was used as a passenger line.
Discussions about bringing the commuter service back have been on the backburner for many years, but a recent trip to Pennsylvania to see a similar line in use has sparked renewed interest. Elected officials and business managers from Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty and Johnson County who made the trip are considering an option that uses electric railcars.
Pop Up Metro is a passenger rail system organized by a railroad infrastructure investment company. It is designed to allow for a quick setup of an electric-based passenger rail car system. Representatives visited the area earlier this year to discuss specifics.
One of the drawbacks of reviving the rail system was the hundreds of millions of dollars in maintenance costs, but Pop Up Metro would not require immediate upgrades to the existing infrastructure.
The company that owns the CRANDIC line expressed concerns about bringing the commuter line back. A spokesman for Travero said that the part of the line in Iowa City is being used for railcar storage now, and is an extremely valuable part of their business.
If a commuter line was reinstated, Travero says it would have to build additional trackage. The spokesman, Jeff Woods, said the company was open to that option if it was in the community’s best interest.