A southbound ‘Hiawatha’ at Maple Street departing Milwaukee.
Brian Schmidt
MILWAUKEE – Amtrak will discontinue food service on the Hiawatha route effective July 1. The Hiawatha trains are not equipped with a cafe car; an employee provides snack service on a cart throughout the train on select trains, weekdays only.
Peg Schmitt, with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Office of Public Affairs, tells Trains News Wire the cut comes from the states wishing to reduce the subsidy for the trains. She says the projected subsidy for the service would be $233,000 for the upcoming fiscal year.
Both Illinois and Wisconsin fund the trains’ operation, with Illinois paying 25 percent and Wisconsin paying 75 percent of the trains’ costs. There are seven daily round trips between Milwaukee and Chicago Monday through Saturday and six on Sundays.
