Back in May, we urged Democrats in Illinois to trumpet high-speed rail expansion on the campaign trail. While initial construction can be pricey, a robust passenger rail system will deliver big environmental and economic benefits to the region.

In a new report "Connecting the Midwest," Illinois PIRG tries to quantify those benefits. According to the public interest group, building a Midwestern network of high-speed trains will create 57,000 permanent and 15,200 temporary jobs. Enhanced rail will help travelers avoid carbon-intensive air (1.3 million plane trips by 2020) and automobile (5.1 million trips per year) trips, reducing emissions equal to 34,000 cars annually. And when the network is completed, almost 70 percent of jobs in the state will be located within 15 miles of a rail station.

An earlier Metropolitan Planning Council report estimated that increases in rail-induced tourism alone will net Illinois $120 million per year in new state and local tax revenue. Those are numbers worth shooting for.