The ''Illini'' and ''Saluki'' are a pair of

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 p ...

s 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 ...

along a route between

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and

Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale is a city in Jackson and Williamson Counties, Illinois, United States, within the Southern Illinois region informally known as "Little Egypt". The city developed from 1853 because of the stimulation of railroad construction into the ...

. They are part of Amtrak's Illinois Service and are primarily funded by the state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. The route is coextensive with the far northern leg of the long-distance '' City of New Orleans''. The ''Illini'' has operated since 1973; a previous version operated in 1971–1972 between Chicago and Champaign. The ''Saluki'' debuted in 2006.

History

The

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also ...

's main line between Chicago and

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

in Chicago over this route, including the ''Illini'' and ''

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

'' (Chicago-Carbondale), the '' City of New Orleans'' and the ''

Panama Limited The ''Panama Limited'' was a passenger train operated from 1911 to 1971 between Chicago, Illinois, and New Orleans, Louisiana. The flagship train of the Illinois Central Railroad, it took its name from the Panama Canal, which in 1911 was three yea ...

'' (both, Chicago–New Orleans), plus the '' City of Miami'' (Chicago–Birmingham). Amtrak retained two trains on this route: the ''City of New Orleans'' (which it named the ''Panama Limited'') and the ''

''. Amtrak brought back the ''Illini'' name on November 14, 1971, as a Chicago-Champaign train, operating in conjunction with the '' Campus''. It was named for the Illini, from which the state of Illinois and the Fighting Illini mascot of the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Unive ...

get their names. Amtrak discontinued the ''Campus'' and ''Illini'' on March 5, 1972. Both trains used

, which Amtrak was abandoning; Amtrak judged that the additional 35–40 minutes necessary to serve

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

made the schedule impractical. The 1972 ''Illini'' made its last trip on March 3. Amtrak revived the ''Illini'' on December 19, 1973, again as a Chicago–Champaign service. The restoration was part of $1.5 million expansion program which included the '' Black Hawk'' (Chicago–Rockford–Dubuque), the ''

State House State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

'' (St. Louis–Chicago), and supplemental funding for the Rock Island's two remaining Rockets (Chicago–Peoria and Chicago–Rock Island). The state desired to extend the ''Illini'' to Decatur, but doing so involved a switch from the Illinois Central to the Norfolk & Western at

Tolono Tolono is a village in Tolono Township, Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,604 at the 2020 census. Its name was fabricated by J.B. Calhoun, land commission of the Illinois Central Railroad, who wrote about it simp ...

, south of Champaign. The connection between the lines was in poor condition, and no one would take responsibility for repairing it. Amtrak finally extended the ''Illini'' to Decatur on July 2, 1981. Decatur had last seen service in 1971 from the Norfolk & Western's ''

City of Decatur The ''Blue Bird'' was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Wabash Railroad and its successor the Norfolk and Western Railway between Chicago, Illinois, and St. Louis, Missouri. It operated from 1938 to 1971. Beginning in 1950 it was ...

'' (Chicago–Decatur) and the Wabash's '' Wabash Cannon Ball'' (Detroit–St. Louis). Neither train had been retained by Amtrak. The new Amtrak service used the old Wabash

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

, which still stands and has become an antique store. Poor ridership prompted Illinois to withdraw its support for the Decatur stop, and Amtrak cut the ''Illini'' back to Champaign on July 10, 1983. On January 12, 1986, Amtrak extended the ''Illini'' to Carbondale to replace the ''Shawnee'', which had been canceled because of budget cuts. Service began at Gilman on October 26, 1986, and

Du Quoin Du Quoin ( ) is a city in Perry County, Illinois. It is best known for hosting the annual DuQuoin State Fair and the Street Machine Nationals. The population is estimated at 5,761 in the 2020 census. Geography Du Quoin is located at (38.0068, ...

on August 25, 1989. The ''Illini'' service was nearly canceled in 1996, but local communities along the route pledged funds to keep it running. A second train, the ''Saluki'', was added on October 30, 2006, in response to increased demand on the ''Illini'' and other Illinois Service trains in the 2005–2006 fiscal year. The ''Saluki'' was named for the mascot of

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

, which is located in the train's southern terminus of Carbondale. Its morning schedule complements the afternoon schedule of the ''Illini.'' Amtrak ran an extra over the route, the ''Eclipse Express'', for the

solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 The solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, dubbed the "Great American Eclipse" by the media, was a total solar eclipse visible within a band that spanned the contiguous United States from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts. It was also visible as a ...

. The trains have stops near three major Illinois state

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Southern Illinois University, and

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

(near Mattoon). As a result, university students account for a significant portion of passengers.

Route

The ''Illini'' and ''Saluki'' operates over the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...

, successor to the Illinois Central. The route is long. The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE) is in the preliminary design phase for the Grand Crossing Project. This project will reroute the ''Illini'', ''Saluki'', and ''City of New Orleans'' trains from Canadian National Railway's tracks to

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

's Chicago Line in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood in Chicago. This will eliminate a time-consuming

switchback Switchback may refer to: Transportation * A hairpin turn on a road * A horseshoe curve * A zigzagging pedestrian or cycling ramp * A roller coaster, or a roller coaster-like road * A zig zag (railway) * The Switchback, a former railway line in ...

on the St. Charles Air Line into Chicago Union Station.

Station Stops

Ridership

Equipment

In 2021 a typical ''Illini'' or ''Saluki'' consists of: *1

Siemens Charger The Siemens Charger is a family of diesel-electric passenger locomotives designed and manufactured by Siemens Mobility for the North American market. There are five variants of the Charger, tailored for different operators and types of servi ...

locomotive *1 Cafe/Sightseeing car *4 Superliner cars

References

* *

Notes

External links

* {{Amtrak routes Amtrak routes Passenger rail transportation in Illinois Railway services introduced in 1973 Railway services introduced in 2006 1973 establishments in Illinois