Contrary to the claim of Kenneth L. Bird (“Rail schedules,” Voice, July 25), the new Chicago-Indianapolis train will not be used for what he calls “Amfreight.” The train will ferry equipment to and from Amtrak’s major maintenance facility at Beech Grove, near Indianapolis. Previously the Chicago-Cincinnati-Washington Cardinal did this and suffered some delays as cars were switched in Indianapolis.
So the change both doubles the number of days (from three to six) that Chicago-Indianapolis service is offered and, hopefully, improves reliability of the Cardinal.
It is unfortunate that Bird puts a negative spin on Amtrak’s Midwest service just when ridership is growing. On Midwest corridors overall, ridership rose 10.3 percent in fiscal 1997 over 1996 and rose another 5.2 percent in the first nine months of fiscal 1998 compared with the same months of fiscal 1997.
Next year 110-m.p.h. running will start on part of the Chicago-Detroit line. Illinois is funding a new track in East St. Louis. When completed, this should knock 20 minutes off Chicago-St. Louis running times. Signal improvements, funded partly by the freight railroads, are planned that will increase top speeds north of Springfield from 79 to 90 m.p.h.
