INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -
Passenger rail service between Chicago and Indianapolis will be available
every day under a two-year contract the Indiana Department of Transportation
has signed with Amtrak and a private carrier.
The Hoosier State
service, operated by Iowa Pacific Holdings four days each week, will
complement the thrice-weekly Cardinal line operated by Amtrak between
Chicago and Washington, D.C., INDOT announced Saturday night.
Round-trip service
began Sunday morning. The train departs Indianapolis at 6 a.m. EDT and
arrives in Chicago about 10 a.m. CDT, INDOT spokesman Will Wingfield said.
Trains depart Chicago at 5:45 p.m. and arrive in Indianapolis five hours
later.
Under the new deal,
Amtrak will provide train and engine crews and manage reservations and
ticketing, while Iowa Pacific will provide the train equipment, maintenance,
food service and marketing. If ticket revenue does not cover costs, INDOT
will pay the difference, while Amtrak will forward any excess revenue to the
state, the agency said.
INDOT said it
initially expects to pay Iowa Pacific about $255,000 per month and the
communities of Crawfordsville, Lafayette, Rensselaer, Tippecanoe County and
West Lafayette would pay a combined $21,000 per month. The deal also calls
for INDOT to receive 25 percent of Iowa Pacific’s operating profits for the
Hoosier State.
The contracts
continue through June 30, 2017, with the state having the option to extend
the deal up to four additional years. They also allow flexibility for
possible future improvements in scheduling, frequency or connecting bus
service, INDOT said.
Wingfield told the
Lafayette Journal & Courier on Friday that the contract was held up by the
completion of a 1,200-foot rail segment between CSX tracks and Iowa Pacific
Holdings’ maintenance facility in Beech Grove, an Indianapolis enclave. He
said the track problem surfaced Tuesday when a switch had to be redesigned
on a CSX line that provided access to Iowa Pacific’s maintenance facility.
Hoosier State adult
coach fares range from $24 to $48 each way. Limited free Wi-Fi service in
all passenger cars will use available bandwidth from cellular carriers along
the tracks.
One of the three
Iowa Pacific passenger cars will be a dome lounge that eventually will house
business-class seating with hot meals and drinks included. For a limited
time, Hoosier State coach passengers may sit in the lounge at no additional
charge, INDOT said. Seats are available on a first come, first served basis.
Iowa Pacific also
provides passenger and excursion train services in states including
Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and Texas.