Joseph Boardman, president and CEO of Amtrak, released the following statement on Friday regarding an announcement by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT).
INDOT said the Hoosier State passenger rail line, which operates four days per week between Indianapolis and Chicago, will provide its last day of service on Wednesday, April 1. The announcement follows a Federal Railroad Administration decision requiring the state of Indiana to serve as a railroad, even though it owns no track or trains.
Boardman is disappointed with the announcement and said Amtrak Indianapolis doesn’t have to end in April, as the company has offered to continue operating on a month-by-month basis.
“Amtrak is ready, willing and able to continue to provide safe and reliable service using one of the proven models we’ve used in other states. We have shown how the quality of the passenger experience can be improved by demonstrating modern Wi-Fi and business-class seating. We have the expertise in working with the host railroads and repeatedly have offered to be the state’s and the communities’ partner in advancing plans to improve the travel time and the reliability of the service.”
Ending the rail line between Indianapolis and Chicago will make it difficult and expensive to create another inter-city connection in the future, Boardman said.
