(The Southern Illinoisan posted the following story by Jim Muir on its website on February 9.)
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Sunday morning train derailment in Perry County that resulted in hundreds of people being evacuated from their homes has also created some inconveniences for local residents who travel by Amtrak.
The derailment took place in Tamaroa, on the same tracks used daily by Amtrak to go from Chicago to Carbondale and New Orleans. This mode of travel is especially popular among students at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Kathleen Cantillon, a spokeswoman for Amtrak, said Sunday afternoon that service will be “slightly altered” but will continue on a daily basis.
“We have arranged for an alternate method of travel while the cleanup is ongoing,” Cantillon said. “Most relevant to the Carbondale area are 391 and 392. Those are the trains that travel between Carbondale and Chicago.”
Cantillon said the train that left Chicago Sunday evening at 4 p.m. traveled to Champaign, where passengers switched to buses to complete the journey to Carbondale. She said the same method will be used by travelers coming from Carbondale. Passengers will take a bus as far as Champaign, then continue on to Chicago by train.
“This should make the trip about 30 to 60 minutes longer,” Cantillon said.
Cantillon said Amtrak is aware of the large volume of students who use Amtrak.
“It’s a slight inconvenience until we get the derailment cleaned up,” Cantillon said. “But, we’re still going to be able to get travelers from point A to point B. That’s our main objective right now until we get things back to normal.”
Cantillon said anybody wanting information until the derailment is cleaned up is being asked to call the Carbondale Amtrak station at (618) 457-3388.