INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Eric Holcomb’s proposed state budget would end Indiana’s annual subsidy for an Amtrak line that runs between Indianapolis and Chicago.
Under the Republican governor’s proposed budget , the Hoosier State Line would no longer receive $3 million in annual state support after June 30, 2019.
Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton tells WFIU-FM that he was surprised by Holcomb’s proposal to end funding for the Indianapolis-to-Chicago passenger line, which has stops in Crawfordsville, Lafayette, Rensselaer and Dyer.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari declined to comment, citing the early stage of Indiana’s budget process.
Amtrak took over the line’s operations in 2017 after a private contractor ended its deal to run the trains over concerns it wasn’t making enough money from a deal with Amtrak and the Indiana Department of Transportation.
1 comment
About time! It stopped making any sense to fund tons of rolling stock to move pounds of people a long time ago. The rails are good for moving large volumes of freight in a non time critical manner. The money would be better spent on roads not rails.