(The Toledo Blade posted the following article on its website on March 26.)
TOLEDO, Ohio — Amtrak is adding a second train through Sandusky, restoring service that was eliminated more than a year ago, and replacing one stop with another in Bryan.
The changes should increase ridership from Sandusky and provide more convenient times for Bryan passengers traveling to and from Chicago, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said yesterday.
Effective April 27, the Lake Shore Limited, which runs between Chicago, New York, and Boston, will stop in Sandusky at 1:53 a.m. eastbound and at 4:02 a.m. westbound.
The Capitol Limited, which runs between Chicago and Washington, already stops in Sandusky at 11:58 p.m. eastbound and 5:24 a.m. westbound.
The railroad is also adding stops for the Lake Shore Limited in Elyria, which is already served by the Capitol Limited.
“In Sandusky and Elyria, these stops were removed a year ago, and we’ve heard from the communities and their elected officials and were able to work out arrangements with Norfolk Southern to restore stops,” Mr. Magliari said. “We anticipate a ridership increase as a result of these stops, since the service is essentially being doubled.”
Sandusky had two daily trains from November, 1998, until January, 2003, when Amtrak rerouted a Chicago-Philadelphia train to run between Pittsburgh and New York.
In Bryan, Amtrak is switching service on April 27 from the Capitol Limited to the Lake Shore Limited. The change means eastbound trains will stop in Bryan at 11:39 p.m. and westbound trains will stop at 6:06 a.m.
Currently, the Capitol stops in Bryan at 9:42 p.m. eastbound and 7:47 a.m. westbound.
“We believe this will give people a better schedule to spend more time in Chicago,” Mr. Magliari said. The new schedules do not affect stops in Toledo, the Amtrak spokesman said.