It’s official—high speed rail is coming to Illinois—although maybe not as quickly as many had hoped. The federal government will send over a billion dollars to the state for high speed rail an amount that falls far short of the 4.5 billion Illinois requested. Still Governor Pat Quinn and Senator Dick Durbin were all smiles, saying that the cash would bring 6,000 jobs to Illinois. So how to use a billion dollars when you wanted more like five? Jon Hilkevitch is a transportation reporter for Chicago Tribune, and their “Getting Around” columnist, and has more insight into the state’s high speed plans.