Carl Sandburg (train)

Carl Sandburg

The Carl Sandburg on the BNSF Chicago Subdivision.
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Locale	Illinois
First service	October 30, 2006
Current operator(s)	Amtrak
Route
Start	Chicago, Illinois
Stops	8
End	Quincy, Illinois
Distance travelled	258 miles (415 km)
Average journey time	4 hours 28 minutes
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	381, 382
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Track owner(s)	BNSF
Route map Legend Dist. Station 0 mi  0 km  Chicago 14 mi  23 km  La Grange 28 mi  45 km  Naperville DuPage River Fox River 52 mi  84 km  Plano 83 mi  134 km  Mendota 104 mi  167 km  Princeton Hennepin Canal 131 mi  211 km  Kewanee 162 mi  261 km  Galesburg 202 mi  325 km  Macomb 258 mi  415 km  Quincy BNSF

The Carl Sandburg is a 258-mile (415 km) passenger train route operated by Amtrak that runs between Chicago and Quincy, Illinois. This train began operation on October 30, 2006 and is an addition to the existing Illinois Service rail network created in 1971 and partially funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation. Between Chicago and Galesburg, this train service uses the same triple track (old CB&Q) as three other Amtrak routes: the California Zephyr, the Southwest Chief and the Illinois Zephyr. The Galesburg to Quincy route (old CB&Q Quincy/Hannibal main line via Macomb) is served by the Carl Sandburg and the Illinois Zephyr.

During fiscal year 2011, both the Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg carried a combined 225,000 passengers, a 6.9% increase over fiscal year 2010.^[1] The two trains had a total revenue of $5,580,227 in fiscal year 2011, a 10.6% increase over fiscal year 2010.^[1]

Overview

The Carl Sandburg is an outgrowth of the Illinois Zephyr, which, along with the rest of the Illinois Service trains, posted record ridership levels in the 2005-2006 fiscal year. There was also strong support from the communities through which the Illinois Zephyr runs.

The Carl Sandburg traces its heritage to the Kansas City Zephyr and American Royal Zephyr, passenger train routes between Kansas City and Chicago along these routes which were operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad from 1953 until 1968 and 1971 respectively. The Chicago to Quincy route is part of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative, which calls for an eventual upgrade of service from the former one daily round trip to four or more daily round trips.^[2] The addition of the Carl Sandburg was the first step in this Midwest Regional Rail Initiative service upgrade. With its addition, the train service schedule from western Illinois to Chicago has now been restored to CB&Q's 1968 levels.

The train's name honors Carl Sandburg, whose birthplace in Galesburg, Illinois lies just a few hundred feet from this train's route. The scheduled travel time from Chicago to Quincy via the Carl Sandburg is approximately 4 hours, 15 minutes.

During 2010, Amtrak contacted officials from communities in northeastern Missouri and western Illinois regarding the feasibility of extending the Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg southwards to Hannibal and St. Louis, Missouri. While a study for the expansion was not conducted, the project could be funded with a mix of federal and state money.^[3]

Amtrak Carl Sandburg (interactive map)

Station stops

State	Town/City	Station	Connections
Illinois	Chicago	Chicago Union Station	Amtrak: Blue Water, Capitol Limited, Cardinal, California Zephyr, City of New Orleans, Empire Builder, Hiawatha Service, Hoosier State, Illini, Illinois Zephyr, Lake Shore Limited, Lincoln Service, Pere Marquette, Saluki, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle, Wolverine, Thruway Motorcoach CTA Buses: 1, 7, 14, 19, 20, X20, X28, 56, 60, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 128, 129, 130, 151, 156, 157, 192 Megabus: M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6, M7 Metra: North Central Service, Milwaukee District/North Line, Milwaukee District/West Line, BNSF Railway Line, Heritage Corridor, SouthWest Service
	La Grange	La Grange	Amtrak: Illinois Zephyr Metra: BNSF Railway Line Pace: 302, 304, 330
	Naperville	Naperville	Amtrak: California Zephyr, Illinois Zephyr, Southwest Chief Metra: BNSF Railway Line Pace: 530, 676, 677, 678, 680, 681, 682, 683, 684, 685, 686, 687, 688, 689, 714, 781
	Plano	Plano	Amtrak: Illinois Zephyr
	Mendota	Mendota	Amtrak: Illinois Zephyr, Southwest Chief
	Princeton	Princeton	Amtrak: California Zephyr, Illinois Zephyr, Southwest Chief
	Kewanee	Kewanee	Amtrak: Illinois Zephyr
	Galesburg	Galesburg	Amtrak: California Zephyr, Illinois Zephyr, Southwest Chief Burlington Trailways Galesburg Bus Transit: Route 2.
	Macomb	Macomb	Amtrak: Illinois Zephyr Go West Transit: 5, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
	Quincy	Quincy	Amtrak: Illinois Zephyr Quincy Transit Lines: Route 4

Consist

Today, a normal Amtrak Carl Sandburg consists of:^[4]

• One GE Genesis P40DC or P42DC locomotive
• Three to five Horizon Fleet or Amfleet 1 coaches
• One Horizon Fleet or Amfleet I club lounge car

References

Route map: Bing / Google

1. "Amtrak Ridership Rolls Up Best-Ever Records" (PDF). Amtrak. 13 October 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
2. "Our Proposal: Link The Entire State By 2015". Midwest High Speed Rail Association. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-05-24. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
3. "Hannibal rails for Amtrak". ConnectTristates.com. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
4. "ILLINOIS ZEPHYR CARL SANDBURG". TrainWeb. Retrieved 19 October 2010.

External links

• New Carl Sandburg service
• Amtrak - Illinois Service
• Midwest High Speed Rail Association