INDIANAPOLIS — State Sen. Ron Alting says he will offer an amendment to the proposed state budget that would restore funding for Amtrak’s Hoosier State service, WLFI-TV reports.
Alting, a Republican, represents a district including Lafayette, Ind., one of the communities served on the train’s Chicago-Indianapolis route. He told the TV station, “Many people in our area use this rail line. It is a vital resource to our community and state, providing an alternative source of transportation. I believe the Hoosier State Rail Line is an important part of our state, and if amended into the budget, I hope HB 1001 will assist in its continuation.”
The state currently provides $3 million in funding for the train, but it was not included in the proposed budget of Gov. Eric Holcomb, and a similar amendment offered in the state House of Representatives was voted down 59-35 in February. Without state funding, the four-day-a-week train will be discontinued at the end of June. Amtrak has already stopped selling tickets for the train after that date. [See “With funding loss imminent, Amtrak ends ticket sales for ‘Hoosier State,’” Trains News Wire, April 9, 2019.]
Somethings seem to make no since whatsoever. Like for example NASA getting 20 billion dollars at the
beginning term of the Trump administration for plant Mars, without a problem no comments on its is money looser. Or its not in our budget. And the federal government comes up with AMTRAK. And nearly all its time has been criticized to death. I pay taxes to help keep the public schools open but I have never had any children but I still pay taxes on a service I will probably never use but I don’t complain about it because I understand it is important. Just like all are facets of are transportation system large or small I think should be preserved, for a strong nation and to help people getting around.
According to what I read on neutral travel sites, the trip was closer to 6 hours much of the time and 7 hour trips weren’t that unusual. Anyway, when its average passenger load is less than one bus full each way, its time to forget it and move on.
More money will be needed. By way of comparison, according to THE OFFICIAL GUIDE OF THE RAILWAYS (July 1956), the Monon’s HOOSIER and TIPPECANOE Chicago-Indianapolis route was 184 miles long; the trip time was four hours (give or take the five-to-15 minutes difference between each train’s schedule) for an average speed of 45.9 MPH. Amtrak’s HOOSIER STATE route is 196 miles long; the trip time is five hours for an average speed of 39.2 MPH. It will take upgrading the track structure on the entire route plus and installing block signals on the Crawfordsville-Indianapolis segment to make the CARDINAL/HOOSIER competitive. .
Lyrics from an old familiar railroad song “City of New Orleans and goes like this “15 cars and 15 restless riders,3 conductors and 25 sacks of mail” The Hoosier State has the same fate and outcome like the City of New Orleans. Maybe a few more but in reality a train that only runs a few times a week and with only one train in each direction and carrying only 62 passengers isn’t a money making proposition and went it costs more to subsidize and operate than what it is taking in in fares and money it becomes a financial liability andtakes away from where that money could be put to other uses or priorities. If you really want trains to pay and make money and be a service for people you need to run more than one train just a day and not every other day. If there is really a market and need for such service, it needs to be developed as a true corridor service with frequent daily service and multiple trains running throughout the day and evening. But judging from past results and stats the market and need isn’t really there. Besides putting those 62 passengers on an intercity bus is a money losing proposition. Either make the Hoosier State and route it runs on into a full and frequent and dependable transportation option for everybody or not at all. Do the job right or not at all. No half hearted or band aid approach.
Chris – I think you should read the comments on this “railfan” site more carefully. Opinions do vary. Some of us want to increase subsidies for passenger trains. Some of us advocate for cuts. But very few of us check our brains at the door just because we like to see trains running.
As a rail fan I appreciate the fact that the Republican Senator has asked for the 3 million to keep the train running.The heck with the cost, it’s a tiny speck of a drop in the big bucket and nobody really cares about money in government anyway so why should we. This is a rail fan site and I’m guessing most people here like trains. So let’s quit worrying how much a train, any train, cost to run because we can’t do anything about that. I for one hope the whole country goes broke spending all our money on passenger rail and not the other crap it’s wasted on. At least we as rail fans can go down smiling.
If the people-that-mattered needed trains from Indianapolis to Chicago, they’d have them. And, they’d be fast, frequent, and convenient; AND the political-scum would be creating BS about how trains make Merica more competitive and keep us safe from “turbine a-wearin’ trrrsss sneakin’ a-crosser boarders”.
The people-that-matter don’t need a train from Indianapolis to Chicago.
State Senator says many people in Lafayette use the line. Which explains why considering all station stops from Chicago to Indy it’s 62 passengers a day.
Either build a real corridor – multiple daily frequencies – or forget the whole thing and bury it.
Regarding the “Hoosier State’s” arrival/departure times which many commentators think are inconvenient: I wonder if it would be feasible to run it at more convenient times? Yes, this would mean travelers could be confused by the different times from the “Cardinal” on the four/three day a week schedules, but maybe it would work to give it a try and see if travelers can keep things straight. After all, people have to keep track of which days the three-days-a-week trains operate, would this be that much more difficult? Operating costs should not increase much, if any, compared to current levels, since you’re still running the same number of trains. Another problem of course is negotiating new operating times with the host railroad(s) — unsurmountable? Another benefit: it could provide for future extension of the “Hoosier State” to Cincinnati (and Louisville?) in terms of reasonable arrival/departure times. What about it — I think this would be a “first” for Amtrak. Are there any examples of the freight railroads doing this in the “old” days, and if so, how did it work?
To avoid the higher bucket costs and improperly using limited space on “The Cardinal,” the best answer is to run this train daily, with dedicated coaches for “shorts.” But good luck with how Amtrak applies its full cost allocation methodology that would make the SP blush.
As everything possible works against the “Hoosier State,” it’s a dog that cannot be saved and should be put out of its misery. This will be the end result of converting Amtrak’s “hospital train” into a tin cup candidate for PRIIA.
A daily Cardinal would solve everything. Either that or a 2nd train leaving Chicago in the morning to Indianapolis & coming back that evening.