The Lincoln Service is a 284-mile (457 km) passenger train service operated by Amtrak that runs between Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. The train is a part of the Illinois Service rail network and is partially funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation. The train service uses the same track as the long-distance Amtrak route, the Texas Eagle.
The Lincoln Service is a rebranding of the former State House route, which was named in recognition of the train's passing through Illinois' capital, Springfield. The train route was originally run by the Alton Railroad, which merged with the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad (GM&O) in 1947. By the time the GM&O merged with the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad in 1972, Amtrak had taken over passenger service.
As a result of continuing upgrades on the line between Chicago and St. Louis, two additional trains daily began running October 30, 2006, for a total of five trains daily, including the Texas Eagle and Ann Rutledge which terminated beyond St. Louis, along with the rebranding of the State House service as part of the Lincoln Service. From April 2007 the Ann Rutledge operated only between Kansas City and St. Louis where it connected to the Lincoln Service trains; Amtrak discontinued the name altogether in 2009.
The Metra Heritage Corridor commuter line uses the same route from Joliet to Union Station.
During fiscal year 2011, the Lincoln Service trains carried nearly 550,000 passengers, a decrease of 4% from FY2010. The service had a total revenue of $12,262,325, a decrease of 8% from FY2010.
Read more about Lincoln Service: Upgrades, Consist, Station Stops
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