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The ''Hoosier State'' was a
passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...
service operated by
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
between
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
and
Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
. It ran on the four days each week that the ''
Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
'' did not run, giving daily rail service to the Chicago–Indianapolis corridor. The ''Hoosier State'' was suspended indefinitely on June 30, 2019, after funding for the train was not written into
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
's 2019 state budget. The ''Cardinal'' continues to provide three round trips per week between Chicago and Indianapolis.


History


Prior service

Prior to Amtrak, the Chicago–Indianapolis market was served by several daily trains, the
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
's ''South Wind'' and ''Kentuckian'', and the
New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
's ''
James Whitcomb Riley James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 – July 22, 1916) was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry. His ...
'', ''Indianapolis Special'', and ''Sycamore''. There is a name antecedent to the train. The
Monon Railroad The Monon Railroad , also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway from 1897 to 1971, was an American railroad that operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana. The Monon was merged into the Louisville and Nashville Ra ...
ran the ''
Hoosier Hoosier is the official demonym for the people of the U.S. state of Indiana. The origin of the term remains a matter of debate, but "Hoosier" was in general use by the 1840s, having been popularized by Richmond resident John Finley's 1833 poem "T ...
'' daily between Chicago and Indianapolis. With the creation of Amtrak, riders were served by the ''
South Wind A south wind is a wind that originates in the south and blows in a northward direction. Words used in English to describe the south wind are auster, buster (a violent south gale), föhn/foehn (alps), ghibli (Libya with various spellings), friage ...
'' and the ''George Washington/James Whitcomb Riley''. However, with
Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania Railroad ...
's financial instability, track maintenance in the Midwest suffered. Amtrak shifted both trains to other routes through
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, leaving Indianapolis to be served only by the ''
National Limited The ''National Limited'' was the premier train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) on its route between Jersey City, New Jersey and St. Louis, Missouri, with major station stops in Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati, Ohio. (Buses took passen ...
'' (formerly the ''
Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that was flown by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo nonstop transatlant ...
''), which ran between New York and Kansas City. The ''National Limited's'' discontinuance in 1979 severed Indianapolis from the national rail network, and isolated Amtrak's
Beech Grove Shops The Beech Grove Shops is a railway maintenance facility in Beech Grove, Indiana, outside Indianapolis. Beech Grove is Amtrak's primary maintenance facility. It also contains a very large freight yard. History The shops were originally constructe ...
in the Indianapolis suburb of Beech Grove. The passenger carrier had been using the ''National Limited'' to ferry railroad cars to and from its shops; it was forced to run special trains to Indianapolis instead.


''Hoosier State''

The ''Hoosier State'' entered service on October 1, 1980. On April 27, 1986, the ''
Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
'' (formerly the ''James Whitcomb Riley'') was rerouted to use the same tracks as the ''Hoosier State'' between Chicago and Indianapolis, and the ''Hoosier State'' began running on days the ''Cardinal'' did not operate. The ''Hoosier State'' was restored to daily operation on a separate schedule from the ''Cardinal'' on October 25, 1987. However, funding cuts led to its discontinuance on September 8, 1995 while the ''Cardinal'' continued tri-weekly operation between Chicago, Indianapolis, and the East Coast. Amtrak restored the ''Hoosier State'' on July 19, 1998, as a tri-weekly, later quad-weekly train. Northbound trains departed Indianapolis on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, while southbound trains departed Chicago on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons.


''Kentucky Cardinal''

On December 17, 1999, the ''Hoosier State'' was extended south from Indianapolis to
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, and renamed the ''
Kentucky Cardinal The ''Kentucky Cardinal'' was a nightly passenger train operated by Amtrak from 1999 to 2003 between Chicago, Illinois, and Louisville, Kentucky, via Indianapolis, Indiana. On the three days that the ''Cardinal'' ran, the ''Kentucky Cardinal'' ...
''. It was also expanded to a full-fledged daily train. On the three days the ''Cardinal'' operated, the ''Kentucky Cardinal'' operated as a section, splitting in Indianapolis. For the rest of the week, it ran independently to Chicago. However, the ''Kentucky Cardinal'' was plagued by extremely slow speeds along its Indianapolis-to-Louisville leg—as slow as in some places—making it slower than automobile traffic along the same stretch of
Interstate 65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between the Great Lakes and the Gulf ...
. Amtrak discontinued the ''Kentucky Cardinal'' on July 4, 2003 and brought back the ''Hoosier State'' on its pre-1999 schedule, operating four days a week in tandem with the ''Cardinal''.


State funding

On October 16, 2008, the
Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (orinally , passed as division B of ) is a law that reauthorized Amtrak and authorized the United States Department of Transportation to provide grants for operating costs and capital expens ...
(PRIIA) was signed into law, requiring states to bear the operating and capital costs of intercity rail passenger service on Amtrak routes of not more than within 5 years. At a length of , the ''Hoosier State'' was affected by this provision of PRIIA, and the State of Indiana became responsible for funding the ''Hoosier State'' beginning on October 1, 2013. Faced with termination of a service that would have left the Chicago–Indianapolis corridor with only thrice-weekly train service, state and local officials arrived at a deal to share the annual cost of the service, becoming the last state in the nation to arrive at a deal to save its short-distance train line on October 15, 2013. Operating costs above ticket revenue continue to be covered by the
Indiana Department of Transportation The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Indiana charged with maintaining and regulating transportation and transportation related infrastructure such as state owned airports, List of numbered ...
and communities along the route. Indiana sought alternatives to Amtrak operation and, on June 24, 2014, selected Corridor Capitol, a Chicago-based rail passenger services development company, as its preferred vendor to manage and operate the service. Planning was underway for the company to take over the service as early as October 1, 2014. However, Corridor Capitol did not meet that deadline and
Indiana Department of Transportation The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Indiana charged with maintaining and regulating transportation and transportation related infrastructure such as state owned airports, List of numbered ...
(INDOT) discontinued negotiations with the company in November 2014. Amtrak continued to operate the train service under short-term contract extensions while the state considered alternative vendors. On March 6, 2015, INDOT announced that the ''Hoosier State'' would discontinue service on April 1, 2015. The decision was made due to regulations of the
Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...
that would have required the state of Indiana to act as a rail carrier, despite the state owning no tracks or trains, which—according to INDOT—would have increased the cost to Indiana taxpayers for no additional benefit. After Indiana appealed to the FRA, the train's operation was extended to April 30, while Amtrak continued to operate the ''Hoosier State'' under a short-term agreement while negotiations continued.


Iowa Pacific operation

On August 2, 2015, INDOT contracted with Iowa Pacific and Amtrak in order to continue the ''Hoosier State'', with Iowa Pacific responsible for providing and maintaining equipment, food service, and marketing, and Amtrak responsible for providing ticketing services and train operating crews (engineers, assistant engineers, conductors, and assistant conductors). The contract had four option years. Once the service improvements instituted by Iowa Pacific took hold, including the addition of full-service
dining A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearanc ...
, onboard Wi-Fi, business-class service, and a
dome car A dome car is a type of railway passenger car that has a glass dome on the top of the car where passengers can ride and see in all directions around the train. It also can include features of a coach, lounge car, dining car, sleeping car or obse ...
, ridership began increasing and was up 5.8% in July 2016 over the previous July, with FY 2016 (October 2015–July 2016) revenues up 32.8% from the prior year. On January 30, 2017, INDOT announced that Iowa Pacific was no longer able to fulfill the contract and had asked to be released from the contract early, prior to its original end date of June 30, 2017. As a result, the equipment and personnel provided by Iowa Pacific were withdrawn and replaced by Amtrak equipment and on-board services personnel in advance of March 1 run of the westbound train from Indianapolis.


Service cancellation and replacement

In February 2019, Indiana governor
Eric Holcomb Eric Joseph Holcomb (born May 2, 1968) is an American politician who is the 51st and current governor of Indiana, serving since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 51st lieutenant governor of Indiana from 2016 to 2017 unde ...
proposed a budget that does not include funding for the ''Hoosier State.'' Holcomb said that the train did not have enough ridership to justify a subsidy. Environmentalists were disappointed by the decision, indicating that the loss of the train service would increase the use of passenger cars by citing a 2016 Amtrak survey that found 57 percent of passengers in Indiana would drive to their destination if the service was canceled. On April 8, 2019, Amtrak announced that unless state funding was restored, the ''Hoosier State'' would end on June 30, 2019. Passengers who already purchased ''Hoosier State'' tickets for travel after that date will be compensated with ''Cardinal'' tickets. The budget passed on April 24, without ''Hoosier State'' funding. On June 30, the Hoosier State officially made its final run. In May 2019, a private transportation company,
OurBus OurBus Inc. is is a broker for motor carriers of passengers, and arranges for the transportation of passengers. The company offers intercity and commuter bus routes serving cities in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virgini ...
, announced plans to start a two-month pilot of daily round trip service from Indianapolis to Chicago to fill the gap left by the ''Hoosier State''. OurBus will charge a $10 introductory rate before raising fares to between $25 and $35. The four initial stops on the OurBus route replacing the ''Hoosier State'' besides Indianapolis and Chicago are Zionsville and Lafayette in Indiana. Other stops along the route will be added if at least 100 people make the request. Gold Shield Transportation is contracted to provide the bus service. Amtrak has recently developed a plan to bring service between Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville/Cincinnati which if implemented, could include up to 8 daily round trips from Chicago to Louisville/Cincinnati, all of which would almost certainly go through Indianapolis and almost certainly travel along the former Hoosier State route. This new proposal is supported by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill, but full implementation would take several years.


Route details

The ''Hoosier State'' operated over Amtrak,
CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
,
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
,
Metra Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines. I ...
, and
Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway (U.S.), Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the ...
trackage: *CSX
Indianapolis Subdivision The Indianapolis Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Ohio and Indiana. The line runs from Hamilton, Ohio, (north of Cincinnati) west to Indianapolis, Indiana, along a former Baltimore an ...
, Indianapolis Terminal Subdivision, Crawfordsville Branch Subdivision, Monon Subdivision, and Eldson Subdivision Indianapolis to Thornton *UP Villa Grove Subdivision, Thornton to 80th Street *BRC, 80th Street Interlocking *Metra
SouthWest Service The Southwest Service (SWS) is a Metra commuter rail line, running southwest from Union Station in downtown Chicago, Illinois, to Manhattan, Illinois. Metra does not refer to its lines by color, but the timetable accents for the SouthWest Service ...
, 80th Street to 21st Street. *NS Chicago Line, CP518 to 21st Street. Intermediate station stops were made at , , , and - the same as those made by the ''Cardinal''. (Unlike the ''Cardinal'', the ''Hoosier State'' had Crawfordsville as a regular stop rather than a flag stop.) The train was scheduled for a five-hour running time over the route.


Ridership


Train consist

The standard ''Hoosier State'' consisted two coaches (generally Amtrak's short-distance
Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...
equipment) and a Horizon or
Amfleet Amfleet is a fleet of single-level intercity railroad passenger cars built by the Budd Company for American company Amtrak in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Budd based the Amfleet design on its earlier Metroliner electric multiple unit. An in ...
cafe car. In addition to standard food service, the cafe car allowed for Business Class seating and complimentary WiFi. Motive power was commonly a
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
Genesis P42DC locomotive. As the train was often used to shuttle equipment from the
Beech Grove Shops The Beech Grove Shops is a railway maintenance facility in Beech Grove, Indiana, outside Indianapolis. Beech Grove is Amtrak's primary maintenance facility. It also contains a very large freight yard. History The shops were originally constructe ...
to Chicago, deadhead equipment of all types could often be found in the consist as well. After Amtrak resumed operations in March 2017, the Great Dome car ''Ocean View'' was added. While operated by Iowa Pacific, the train included Iowa Pacific owned ex-
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...
Big Dome The Big Domes were a fleet of streamlined dome cars built by the Budd Company for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway ("Santa Fe") in 1954. Budd built a total of 14 cars in two batches. The Santa Fe operated all 14 on various streamlined t ...
''Summit View'' and three passenger cars, with power provided by a fleet of three ex-NJT
GP40FH-2 The passenger locomotives derivatives of the General Motors EMD GP40 diesel-electric locomotive have been, and continue to be, used by multiple passenger railroads in North America. For passenger service, the locomotives required extra compone ...
diesel locomotives.


Notes


References

* *


Further reading

*


External links

* {{Former Amtrak routes Former Amtrak routes Passenger rail transportation in Illinois Passenger rail transportation in Indiana Railway services introduced in 1980 Railway services discontinued in 2019