On July 19 Amtrak reintroduced the Hoosier State, running three times a week between Chicago and Indianapolis. When combined with the existing Chicago - Washington DC Cardinal the new service doubles the frequency offered by Amtrak between Chicago and Indianapolis; business travellers can now spend a full day in Chicago and head home the same evening.

Introduction of the extra trains has been made possible by rapid progress in refurbishing coaches and locomotives at Amtrak’s Beech Grove plant near Indianapolis.

A spin-off benefit for Amtrak of running the extra trains is that rolling stock can now be moved between Chicago and Beech Grove on the Hoosier State, avoiding shunting delays to the Cardinal, which had been used previously for positioning stock. o

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