(The Herald-Dispatch posted the following article by Bob Withers on its website on April 23.)
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Amtrak is issuing a new timetable Monday and notes a few changes for passengers using the Washington, D.C.-Chicago Cardinal.
The westbound train s schedule is being set back two hours, meaning the thrice-weekly run will leave Huntington at 11:13 p.m. instead of 9:13 p.m. on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
“The change was made to offer a more convenient departure time for passengers going to Chicago from Indianapolis,” Amtrak spokesperson Karina Van Veen said Tuesday.
The eastbound train will still stop here at 9:33 a.m. on the same three days. The times for Ashland are 8:39 a.m. eastbound, as before, and 11:36 p.m. westbound.
The new timetable notes one other change — passengers won’t be able to light up on board, as in the past.
“Passengers may smoke on station platforms as announced by train crews, and must remain next to the train, ready to board immediately upon hearing the locomotive horn and verbal ‘all aboard’ calls,” the timetable says.
Van Veen says that change actually was placed in effect March 3 because of a lack of coach equipment.
“We don’t have an extra smoking car for that train,” she said.