Discussion online is indicating that Amtrak has submitted step 1 reports to the Federal Railroad Administration to enable daily Amtrak Cardinal service. The Amtrak Cardinal travels three times weekly from New York to Chicago via Washington DC, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis. This project focuses on bringing the service to daily.

Finishing initial planning for the project in Step 1 prepares Amtrak for millions in federal funding to prepare a Service Development Plan in Step 2. The current planning work is part of the federal Corridor ID program which was created by Congress to allocate billions towards enhancing passenger rail services in the United States.

In the FRA's report on Amtrak's long-distance routes the FRA estimated that increasing the Cardinal to daily service frequency "could result in approximately 110,000 new annual riders, and an additional $11 million operating revenue from ticket and food and beverage sales.”

Cover photo Attr. David T Rohdenburg