The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2019 budget proposes cancelling $53.4 million in passenger rail money, with the bulk of it likely coming from funds set aside for a connection between Moline and Iowa City.

The proposal hasn’t become law yet, but if it does it would mean the loss of a chunk of federal money that could possibly be used as a down payment on construction.

"We are aware that the unspent money that we have not obligated is in the budget to be cancelled," Amanda Martin, freight and passenger policy coordinator for the Iowa Department of Transportation's rail office, said Thursday.

Martin said that, based on her calculations, about $47.7 million of the money proposed for cancellation is for the passenger rail link in Iowa.

Read the full article on the Quad City Times website.