(The following article by Bob Withers was posted on the Herald-Dispatch website on October 27.)
HUNTINGTON, WVa. — Amtrak will issue a new timetable on Monday, Oct. 30, that includes schedule changes for its thrice-weekly New York-Washington-Chicago Cardinal.
The eastbound train will leave Chicago’s Union Station at 5:45 p.m., two hours earlier than now, to provide a more convenient arrival time for passengers getting off at Indianapolis. That will make the train due in Ashland at 6:14 a.m. and Huntington at 7:09 a.m. on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays, instead of 8:04 and 8:59 a.m.
The westbound train will run earlier, too, because the same crew operates the Cardinal in both directions between Washington and Charlottesville, Va., and the east- and westbound train’s meeting point must remain west of the latter point. So the Cardinal will be due in Huntington at 9:35 p.m. and Ashland at 9:58 p.m. on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays, instead of 11:30 and 11:53 p.m.
Marc Magliari, Amtrak’s spokesman in Chicago, said the move will help the Capitol Limited. That’s also a Chicago-Washington-New York train, but it travels via Toledo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh instead of Huntington and Ashland.
“In effect, the Cardinal and the Capitol Limited traded slots,” he said Wednesday. The Cardinal leaves earlier, the Capitol leaves later.”
That, he explained, will help passengers from cities such as Omaha, Denver and Kansas City, many of whom are headed toward Florida, who have been missing connections with the Capitol in Chicago.
“That train has a lot of Florida business,” he said. “It’s also a daily train.”
Two problems with the Cardinal’s service are not likely to go away soon, however. One of them is freight congestion on the half-dozen railroads the train must use to get into and out of Chicago.
“We can only go where the tracks go,” Magliari said. “Long-term plans call for reorganizing the tracks around town. That would help us. And we’re always looking at other routing possibilities, but right now this is the Cardinal’s route.”
Several weeks ago, the company issued a passenger service notice warning travelers to expect delays of one to three hours on the Cardinal because of the congestion. The notice advises people to call (800) USA-RAIL (872-7245) on their day of departure to ascertain up-to-date arrival and departure times.
“There is a lot of delay on the Cardinal’s current schedule leaving Chicago,” Magliari said. “We’re hopeful the new departure times will work better than the old ones did to get passengers on their way on time.”
Secondly, passengers cannot check baggage on the Cardinal because it still will not carry a baggage car. That can create extremely crowded conditions aboard — especially in the Viewliner sleeping car.
“Baggage cars are about the oldest cars in our fleet,” Magliari said. “They are very expensive to operate because the manufacturers that built them are no longer around and any parts that have to be replaced must be fabricated.”
And that sets up a daily battle, given the government’s insistence that Amtrak lose less money rather than grow a truly national rail system by buying more cars.
“Our passengers struggle with this issue every day, as do our crews,” Magliari said. “It’s because of the age of the cars, and the fact that there is a low number of them still in service.”