The ''Loop'' was a daily passenger train operated by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

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 Springfield, Illinois. The ''Loop'' began on April 27, 1986, with funding support from the state of Illinois. The train acted as a counterpart to the '' State House'', departing Chicago in the morning and returning in the afternoon. Funding shortfalls eliminated Saturday service in mid-1995, and the train ended altogether on June 28, 1996, after Illinois withdrew its support. The ''Loop'' originally operated with refurbished bilevel cars from the

Chicago & North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

, but by 1987 Amtrak substituted

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 ...

coaches, later supplemented by

Horizon Fleet The Horizon is a type of single-level intercity railroad passenger car used by Amtrak, the national rail passenger carrier in the United States. Amtrak ordered the cars to supplement their existing fleet of Amfleet I single-level cars used on s ...

coaches. In 2006 Amtrak restored and exceeded the service level that had been provided by the ''Loop'' by adding two new round trips to the ''State House'', which was rebranded as the ''

Lincoln Service The ''Lincoln Service'' is a higher-speed rail service operated by Amtrak that runs between Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. The train is a part of the '' Illinois Service'' and is partially funded by the Illinois Department of Tra ...

''.

References

External links

1995 timetable
{{Former Amtrak routes Former Amtrak routes Passenger rail transportation in Illinois Railway services introduced in 1986 Railway services discontinued in 1996