Amtrak service from Lafayette to Chicago may be gone in a year by Chris Morisse Vizza, Journal And Courier
Lafayette may lose daily passenger railroad service next year.
Amtrak confirms plans to end the Hoosier State route, effective Oct. 1, 2013.
“It is very likely there could no longer be daily service in Lafayette,” said Marc Magliari with the Amtrak media relations office in Chicago.
Nearly 27,000 people got on and off the Hoosier State and the Cardinal passenger trains in Lafayette last year.
The Cardinal would continue to serve Lafayette three mornings and three nights a week on its route between Chicago and New York.
Residents would lose four days and four nights of rail service when the Hoosier State stops in Lafayette during its run between Indianapolis and Chicago.
“It’s vital,” said Joe Krause, a community volunteer who helps passengers on and off the trains stopping in Lafayette. “The people who ride the train to Chicago or Indianapolis have no other means of travel.”
Funding for the Hoosier State is the heart of the dispute between Amtrak, state administrators and the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Amtrak maintains that states are responsible for fully funding routes shorter than 750 miles and that the funding methodology was established by Congress in 2008.
Indiana leaders disagree.
“Our understanding is that the methodology was a discussion and was not a commitment to subsidize the Hoosier State,” said Will Wingfield, INDOT spokesman.
“There was no money provided along with the federal mandate. It is still not entirely known what Amtrak is requesting of Indiana.”
Magliari said, “Communications with Indiana and other states are in the public record in our 2011 Surface Transportation Board filing, including Section 209’s effect on the Hoosier State service and the funding methodology.”
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