Amtrak will discontinue operating the financially troubled Calumet commuter train at the end of the year, the national rail line`s president has decided.
Amtrak cannot continue to run the money-losing Calumet, said W. Graham Claytor Jr. in a letter to U.S. Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.).
Indiana officials had asked Amtrak to maintain the Calumet`s operation until a state group could assume control next summer. But keeping the Calumet would ”conflict with my obligation to efficiently utilize the scarce federal resources made available for rail passenger service,” Claytor said.
The Calumet has been carrying an average of 7,800 passengers a month on its daily round trip between Chicago and Valparaiso, with intermediate stops in Hammond, Whiting, Indiana Harbor, Gary, Hobart and Wheeler.
The Indiana Department of Transportation and Operation Bootstrap, a group of public officials and private business leaders, are working on plans to take over the line.
