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. Combined with strong support from the communities through which the Illinois Zephyr runs, this made the addition of a second train an obvious decision.
The Carl Sandburg can trace 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 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. 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, Missouri and St. Louis. While a study for the expansion was not conducted, the project could be funded with a mix of federal and state money.
Read more about this topic: Carl Sandburg (Amtrak)