NEWS




National Railroad Passenger Corporation
Amtrak Intercity
210 South Canal Street
Chicago, Illinois 60606-5715



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE				       ATK-96-125
June 12, 1996						       Contact: Marc Magliari 
									          312 655-1338

BNSF ENABLES AMTRAK TRAINS TO USE A SINGLE CHICAGO-GALESBURG ROUTE 

	CHICAGO -- Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNSF) construction of a new track segment west of Galesburg, Ill., will lead to a consolidation of Amtrak passenger train routes between Chicago and Galesburg.  All Amtrak trains will use the Burlington Northern Railroad route to Galesburg instead of operating over both the Burlington Northern and the Santa Fe Railway, effective Aug. 1.

	In August, BNSF will discontinue use of a short segment of Santa Fe track primarily used by the Southwest Chief in Chicago and no other route is available. The cost to Amtrak of acquiring or maintaining the track segment could not be justified.  The change will save Amtrak an estimated annual expense of more than $100,000 by reducing labor costs as the Southwest Chief will operate over a faster route and by eliminating some station expenses along the former route.  

	"The Southwest Chief is one of our premier trains," said Don Cushine, General Manager of the Western Business Group at Chicago-based Amtrak Intercity.  "We have had favorable operational results over the current route and we expect the result of the change to be further improvement."

	The Southwest Chief, a daily Superliner train to and from Chicago and Los Angeles, will begin serving Naperville and Princeton and will discontinue serving Joliet, Streator and Chillicothe.  Joliet will continue to be served by daily trains on the Chicago-St. Louis route.  

	"The agreement we have reached with Amtrak to move the Southwest Chief onto the BNSF line between Chicago and Galesburg via Naperville and Princeton is mutually beneficial," said DJ Mitchell, BNSF Assistant Vice President, Passenger Services.

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	There are slight changes to the schedule of the westbound Southwest Chief (Train #3) between Chicago and Ft. Madison, Iowa and to the eastbound Southwest Chief (Train #4) between Galesburg and Chicago.  There are no changes to the route or schedule of the Southwest Chief west of the Mississippi River.

	The route consolidation will also eliminate customer confusion in Galesburg, where Amtrak trains have stopped at a depot along the Santa Fe at Broad St. or at a depot along the Burlington Northern at Seminary St.  All Amtrak trains through Galesburg will stop at the Seminary St. station, effective Aug. 1.

	The change in Southwest Chief routing between Chicago and Galesburg will have no effect on the scheduling of the California Zephyr (Trains #5 & 6), Desert Wind (Trains #35 & 36), Pioneer (Trains #25 & 26) and Illinois Zephyr (Trains #346, 347 & 348) to and from Galesburg and Chicago.  The Southwest Chief will not carry Amtrak passengers originating in either Chicago or Naperville to either Princeton or Galesburg, with those customers instead offered service on the Illinois Zephyr.

	"While it is always difficult to withdraw service along a route, the financial realities are huge costs for track expenses and train operations over the current Southwest Chief route versus benefits to most customers and definite financial savings from the consolidation along a single BNSF line in northern Illinois," said Cushine. 

	Please see an authorized Amtrak travel agent, visit a staffed Amtrak station or call 1-800-USA-RAIL for details on these or any other Amtrak services.
 
	Amtrak Intercity operates passenger rail service throughout much of the United States, including Midwest corridor trains for the Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Kansas City and St. Louis markets as well as most other Amtrak long-distance services.  Headquartered in Chicago, Amtrak Intercity employs nearly 6,200 people in 39 states and is one of three Amtrak strategic business units.

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