JEFFERSON CITY — This week, State Sen. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, takes on host duties as the annual meeting of the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC) gets underway in Kansas City.

“It is an honor to play host to my colleagues on this panel, especially in my backyard,” said Sen. Pearce. “I look forward to the discussion and educational opportunities during this annual meeting, and showing out-of-state visitors what Kansas City and Missouri have to offer in terms of rail importance.”

The annual meeting will begin Wednesday, June 11, with a “rolling meeting” of delegates on the train between Chicago and Kansas City. The official conference will convene early on Thursday, June 12, at Union Station, with welcomes offered by many local officials, including Michelle Teel, the Director of Multimodal Operations for the Missouri Department of Transportation. Topics slated for discussion include the future of rail improvements, legislation related to rail travel, possible university partnerships and the importance of rail travel on the Midwest’s economy.

Organized under the umbrella of Council of State Governments (CSG), MIPRC currently consists of members from Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin. The CSG allows for a nonpartisan, regional collaboration in order to share information and create an interstate idea exchange on many topics among local lawmakers.

Senator Pearce serves as chairman of the MIPRC Committee on University Partnerships, supporting use of passenger rail service among college students in the Midwest. In the Midwest region, approximately 150 higher education institutes are located with 10 miles of an Amtrak station. In fact, Amtrak ridership in university communities is up 124 percent, while total nationwide ridership is only up 40 percent.

“I often travel by train, so I have the great fortune of experiencing first-hand the passenger rail service here in Missouri,” said Sen. Pearce. “The River Runner service connects the eastern and western sides of our state, ensuring timely, efficient travel for many Missourians. With the work of MIPRC, we hope to continue to move toward increasing rail travel throughout the Show-Me State and the rest of the Midwest.”

This panel was organized to promote long-range plans and current projects for improving intercity rail travel in the Midwest, coordinate action and information among the Midwestern states, and promote state efforts currently conducted through participating state’s Departments of Transportation.

For more information about this commission, please visit www.miprc.org. To learn more about other panels on which Sen. Pearce serves, go to www.senate.mo.gov/pearce.