Lincoln Service

Lincoln Service

A Lincoln Service departs Chicago in May 2009. Directly behind is the Sears Tower (now Willis).
Overview
Service type	Higher-speed rail
Locale	Midwest United States
Predecessor	State House
First service	2006
Current operator(s)	Amtrak
Ridership	1,796 average daily 655,465 total (FY13) 633,531 (FY14)
Route
Start	Chicago, Illinois
Stops	9
End	St. Louis, Missouri
Distance travelled	284 miles (457 km)
Average journey time	5 hours, 30 minutes
Service frequency	Four round-trips daily
Train number(s)	300-307
On-board services
Class(es)	Business class and reserved coach
Catering facilities	On-board café
Technical
	Horizon Fleet coaches
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Operating speed	Up to 110 miles per hour (180 km/h)
Track owner(s)	CN, UP, NS, KCS, TRRA
Route map Dist. Station 0 mi Chicago Union Station 12.0 mi 19.3 km Summit 37 mi 60 km Joliet 74 mi 119 km Dwight 92 mi 148 km Pontiac 124 mi 200 km Bloomington-Normal 156 mi 251 km Lincoln 185 mi 298 km Springfield 224 mi 360 km Carlinville 257 mi 414 km Alton Illinois Missouri Mississippi River 284 mi 457 km St. Louis This diagram:

Route map
Dist. Station 0 mi Chicago Union Station 12.0 mi 19.3 km Summit 37 mi 60 km Joliet 74 mi 119 km Dwight 92 mi 148 km Pontiac 124 mi 200 km Bloomington-Normal 156 mi 251 km Lincoln 185 mi 298 km Springfield 224 mi 360 km Carlinville 257 mi 414 km Alton Illinois Missouri Mississippi River 284 mi 457 km St. Louis This diagram:

1,796 average daily
655,465 total (FY13)

The Lincoln Service is a 284-mile (457 km) higher-speed rail service operated by Amtrak that runs between Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. The train is a part of the Illinois Service and is partially funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation. The train uses the same tracks as Amtrak's Texas Eagle.

The Lincoln Service is a re-branding of the former State House route. 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 Railroad in 1972, Amtrak had taken over passenger service.

During fiscal year 2013, the Lincoln Service trains carried nearly 655,465 passengers, an increase of 9.7% from FY2012. The service had a total revenue of $16,382,439, an increase of 22.7% from FY2012.

In March, 2013 the travel time from Chicago to St. Louis was 5 hours 30 minutes -- 35 minutes slower than the Illinois Central Railroad operated its express trains over the same route during the 1930s.

As a result of continuing upgrades on the line between Chicago and St. Louis, two additional trains daily began running on 30 October 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.