Amtrak Supporters Appeal for Funding for Hoosier State Line

With the end of the legislative session nearing, Amtrak has only days left to hop on board the state budget.

Unless the state agrees to add $3 million annually for Amtrak to the two-year state budget, the Hoosier State run by Amtrak between Indianapolis and Chicago will reach the end of the line.

Wednesday, supporters of the service, including Sen. Ron Alting, a Republican from Lafayette which is one of the Hoosier State’s station stops, rallied at the Statehouse to make a last-ditch appeal for the funding. Amtrak announced earlier this month that the they would stop taking reservations for the service after June 30 and the line will not continue without the state funds.

Gov. Eric Holcomb axed the Amtrak funding in the budget he proposed, and so far neither the House nor Senate has added it back in. The Hoosier State makes stops in Indianapolis, Crawfordsville, Lafayette and Rensselaer on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and is a key mode of transportation for many citizens and Purdue students traveling home.

Read more: https://www.nuvo.net/news/amtrak-supporters-appeal-for-funding-for-hoosier-state-line/article_a7c95290-61dc-11e9-81aa-136c38581a2f.html