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Lincoln Corridor service disrupted in August
Cool- more rare mileage on the C&EI!
I may have spoken too soon. Are the trains being re-routed, if so on what line, or are they being cancelled?
Once upon a time, when passengers were important, maintenance got done without cancelling trains. There are freight trains on that line also. Are they going to be cancelled too? I think not.
Amazing. How can a passenger train be superior to a bus when it requires bus service to handle the load when maintenance is needed?
It is good to see continual improvement on this line. Most of the Chicago to St. Louis line will be 110 mph when construction is complete in a few more years. At that point, if an additional two or three Amtrak trains per day are added, you can kiss the flights serving the markets between Chicago, Bloomington-Normal, Springfield, and St. Louis goodbye. Just as along the NEC as well as in Europe and Asia, few business travelers will put up with the hassles, lost productivity, and poor customer service of air travel when a reliable train option is available.
I see the bagger truck driver doesn’t understand the difference between construction and maintenance.
@JEFFERY GUSE - Around 15 years ago I remember my (short haul - Newark to Hartford CT) flight being cancelled because of snow, with the airline substituting a bus instead. This is what happens when you have multiple forms of transportation - people try to take the most efficient, comfortable, form first, but on occasion when that’s not possible but another one is, a different mode of transportation is provided instead.
This, BTW, is at the heart of a concept called “Choice”, something it seems most anti-train people want to stamp out.
It will be great to take a 110-mph train ride, once the rebuilding is completely done. By then, the new Amtrak double deck Illinois cars will be in service. Can’t wait!!! Maybe even “the guse” will come along, and enjoy the ride, instead of being so negative and pessimistic!!!
@Dennis Bolsega: if the adjustments from the previous work windows are repeated, the Eagle will detour on the old C&EI through Steger, Villa Grove, and Arcola, and parts of the Lincoln trains will be replaced by buses. Sometimes, one of the Lincoln trains is cancelled completely.
This maintenance window is opening awfully close to registration week at Illinois State University, which often means heavy passenger loadings.
Bad timing. That’s the last weekend of the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. Also a few schools open on the 19th. Postponing the work for a week might have made more sense, although I can understand wanting it completed before the Labor Day weekend.
The former C&EI goes actually goes through Tuscola, not Arcola, and on to Pana, where it accessed St. Louis via the former NYC tracks (now all UP). And it reminds me of the old joke about the inebriated passenger on a local northbound train on the former IC, who after having heard announcements for stops at Arcola and Tuscola, asked, “What’s next? Coca-cola?”
“No, sir; Champaign.”