(The following story by Scott Richardson appeared on the Pantagraph website on June 13.)
NORMAL, Ill. — Track repairs in and around Springfield will interrupt Amtrak service on the St. Louis-Chicago corridor for about a week beginning Monday.
But, people boarding in Bloomington or Lincoln can avoid most delays by choosing the right trains.
The brief inconvenience is unlikely to sidetrack a surge in the number of people riding the rails. Officials credit the spike to higher fuel costs for personal travel. Chicago-based Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari also credited improvement in train reliability and a stepped-up marketing campaign.
Magliari said Amtrak served 11 percent more passengers in the United States during the first half of its fiscal year, which runs from October through May. Statewide, Amtrak ridership jumped nearly 16 percent, to 695,623. The numbers do not include the Hiawatha route between Milwaukee and Chicago, which jumped 20 percent to 457,571 people.
The St. Louis-Chicago corridor, which includes 10 daily trains through Bloomington-Normal, Lincoln and Pontiac, saw a 19 percent rise to 345,873, he said. With the summer travel season, Amtrak officials think passenger trains in the corridor could carry more than a half-million passengers by the time the Amtrak fiscal year ends Sept. 30.
Magliari recommended passengers book their travel early, especially on special event weekends in the cities or on days when sporting events are played.
Going by train?
Magliari thinks passengers should consider the following trains if they plan to join the crowds riding the rails between Monday and June 24:
• Best bet northbound is to be an early riser. The first train of the day to Chicago, No. 300, will depart Lincoln at 7:01 a.m. daily. Passengers from Springfield will be bused to catch it at Lincoln. The schedule calls for departure from Normal at 7:31 a.m. Expect it to be on time.
• Train 304, scheduled to leave Normal at 5:56 p.m. each day, will depart Lincoln at 5:25 p.m. Riders coming from Springfield will be bused to Lincoln a couple of days and shuttled to the train on an alternate track near Springfield after that.
• Train 302 departing Normal at 9:41 a.m. and Train 306 departing at 8:36 p.m. are canceled Monday through Wednesday. They resume normal operations from St. Louis Thursday through June 24.
• Monday through Wednesday, forget about the Texas Eagle scheduled to depart Normal 11:43 a.m. The train is being re-routed to bypass the construction and its normal stops. “Southbound is a larger issue,” Magliari said.
• Train 307 from Chicago, scheduled to leave Normal at 9:14 p.m., will not go south of Lincoln Monday through June 24. Buses may be an alternative. Call ahead.
• Trains leaving Normal at 9:14 a.m., 11:39 a.m. and 7:49 p.m. will bypass Springfield altogether. Shuttles will take passengers into that city.
• The southbound Texas Eagle due to leave Normal at 4:04 p.m. will not operate Monday through Wednesday.