SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois transportation officials are asking the federal government for about $550 million in the first round of competition for high-speed rail projects.

The aim of the request is to quickly get projects underway that will lead to improved travel times on a number of passenger routes, including the Chicago-St. Louis link and a new line running between Chicago and the Quad-Cities.

For years, Illinois has worked to improve travel times for passengers riding Amtrak trains. The goal is to boost train speeds from their current maximum of 79 miles per hour to 110 mph.

Much of the money sought from the federal government will result in upgrades to railroad sidings, which allow slower freights trains to pull over and make room for faster passenger trains to pass, said George Weber, chief of IDOT's Bureau of Railroads.

"We can't expect freight railroads to put everything aside," Weber said Wednesday.

Eventually, Weber said the state hopes to have two sets of tracks running along the length of the Chicago-St. Louis route -- one for passenger trains, the other for freight trains.

If the state receives the money, workers soon could be upgrading sidings on areas north of Normal, near McLean and north of Lincoln.

Much of the preliminary work on a proposed route to the Quad-Cities will focus on a congested area near Aurora, where passenger trains often get bogged down when they meet up with freight trains.

Weber said the state also is asking for $10 million to launch a study of bringing even faster trains to the state. The grant would look at the feasibility of having trains running 220 mph on a Chicago-St. Louis route that runs through Decatur and Champaign, rather than through Bloomington-Normal.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., recently said that route might be too expensive to focus on for the time being.

In its application, the state also is seeking $140 million to reduce congestion in the Chicago region, which has a mix of freight trains, commuter trains and Amtrak trains. Included in the plan is a new bridge that would carry commuter trains over freight lines.

Another $150 million was requested to help plan future high-speed rail expansions with other states, which will use Chicago as a hub.

Also in the mix is a $52 million request to reduce congestion in Galesburg.

The federal government, which is offering states a total of $8 billion for high-speed rail projects, is expected to announce the winners in October.