Amtrak has announced a series of service disruptions and detours on its Chicago-St. Louis corridor between May 15 and 24 due to track work being undertaken to bring higher train speeds to the route.
Lincoln Service trains 305 and 307 on May 15 will operate from Chicago to Springfield, Illinois, with bus service between Springfield and Carlinville, Alton and St. Louis.
Between May 16 and 23 all Lincoln Service trains will operate between Chicago and Springfield only with buses replacing all trains except No. 300 between Springfield and St. Louis.
On May 24, Nos. 300 and 302 will operate between Springfield and Chicago only. Bus service will be provided for No. 302 from St. Louis to Alton, Carlinville and Springfield.
In a service advisory, Amtrak said that the charter bus service replacing Nos. 302, 304 and 306 will depart earlier than their respective trains. Passengers are advised to pay close attention to the bus departure time on your ticket.
The westbound Texas Eagle will depart Chicago two hours early at 11:45 a.m. between May 16 and May 23 and detour via the former Chicago & Eastern Illinois route of UP between Chicago and St. Louis.
No. 21 is scheduled to depart St. Louis westbound at its regularly scheduled time of 7:55 p.m.
The detour route will miss the scheduled intermediate stops in Illinois of Joliet, Pontiac, Bloomington-Normal, Lincoln, Springfield, Carlinville and Alton.
Texas Eagle passengers are advised to travel instead on Lincoln Service trains or buses.
The eastbound Texas Eagle will operate as scheduled from St. Louis to Chicago between May 16 and 23, but will be detouring over the same route as its westbound counterpart.
No. 22 will miss its scheduled stops at Alton, Carlinville, Springfield, Lincoln, Bloomington-Normal, Pontiac and Joliet.
Passengers on No. 22 traveling to Chicago from point south of St. Louis will remain on the train.
Those traveling to the missed intermediate point on No. 22 will instead be transported by bus.
Amtrak said Nos. 21 and 22 may encounter delays of up to 45 minutes while traveling on the detour in addition to the two hours of time added to the train’s timetable in each direction.
Tags: Amtrak Midwest Corridor trains, Amtrak service disruptions, Amtrak's Lincoln Service, Amtrak's Texas Eagle, Chicago-St. Louis Corridor, Lincoln Service, Midwest Corridor trains, Midwest passenger rail service, Midwest rail service, Texas Eagle, Texas Eagle delays, Texas Eagle detours
Amtrak in the Heartland 
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