A northbound Amtrak Hiawatha passes through Northbrook, Ill., on Feb. 23, 2020. Service frequency is being reduced for the Hiawatha and other Midwest trains.
TRAINS: David Lassen
CHICAGO — As part of its continuing response to coronavirus-related drops in ridership, Amtrak has made the first cuts to its Midwestern service, cancelling the Chicago-Grand Rapids, Mich., Pere Marquette as of Thursday and reducing frequencies for the Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha and the Chicago-Pontiac, Mich., Wolverine.
Amtrak’s online reservation page shows four round trips for the Hiawatha as of Thursday, down from the usual seven, and two round trips for the Wolverine, down from three.
Service reductions on service in Illinois are forthcoming but have not yet been finalized. Watch the Amtrak website and smartphone apps for further updates, and for the revised Hiawatha and Wolverine schedules.
GERALD – To my best understanding the answers to your two questions are YES and YES.
Here in PA the governor basically shut down everything that has to do with larger groups of people. Restaurants can only provide takeout so a coach with 80 seats is a definite no-no.
Did Amtrak get approval from the State Transportation agencies to reduce service in those lanes that are state supported? I’m pretty sure states have a say in the schedules and number of trains that operate.