(The following story by Barton Lorimor appeared on the Southern Illinois University Daily Egyptian website on April 11.)
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Instead of directing Amtrak passengers to their seats onboard an idling train, conductors at the Carbondale depot pointed them to a charter bus.
Jerry Dunbar, Amtrak stationmaster in Carbondale, said passengers ticketed to ride the 4:05 p.m. train from Carbondale to Chicago today would be bused to Champaign to avoid extended delays. Passengers will board an awaiting train in Champaign, and ride it the rest of the way.
This is the third consecutive day for the alteration as maintenance crews replace railroad ties near Effingham on a line Amtrak uses. The work began last week and caused delays up to four hours. Busing passengers to Champaign reduces the delay to 45 minutes, Dunbar said.
Oliver Witte, a doctoral student from Wheaton studying journalism, said his train left Carbondale at 4:05 p.m. April 4, and stopped outside Effingham for almost four hours because of the maintenance.
The delay, Witte said, caused him to miss the last commuter train from Union Station in Chicago, which leaves at 12:40 a.m. A ticket agent in Chicago offered a pass allowing him to stay overnight in the station, Witte said.
“I found a taxi that would take me home, and it cost $80,” he said.
Replacing trains with buses was only a slight inconvenience, said April Wolber, a junior from Rock Falls studying psychology and an Amtrak passenger, Thursday. Wolber said Amtrak contacted her via telephone Wednesday, and told her the bus should not take any longer than if the trains were operating normally.
But Wolber disagreed, and said it takes her more than three hours to drive to Champaign. According to Amtrak’s schedule, a train departing from Carbondale takes less than three hours to arrive in Champaign.
Leonard Pfeiffer, a driver for Southwestern Illinois Bus Company, said it would take him four hours to reach Champaign on Thursday with almost 30 Amtrak passengers onboard.
Pfeiffer said he has been a bus driver for 12 years and a truck driver for 40 years before that.
Dunbar said the train operating between Chicago and New Orleans, which stops in Carbondale at 1:21 a.m. daily, should not be affected by the maintenance because crews do not work past 9 p.m. Dunbar said Amtrak’s service to Chicago leaving Carbondale at 3:16 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. would run normally since the crew begins work after the trains pass Effingham.
But Dunbar said Amtrak would be altering its schedule starting next week to accommodate the ongoing maintenance. He said the train that normally departs Carbondale for Chicago at 4:05 p.m. will leave an hour later and the train to Carbondale will leave Chicago at 8:15 a.m., instead of the regular 9:15 a.m.
Friday’s 4:05 p.m. departure for Chicago will be the last time passengers are taken to Champaign on the bus, Dunbar said.