SIMMS

 Do you have any idea what SIMMS is?  If you are not familiar with downtown Carbondale, you probably do not but someone thinks emough people are familar enough with the acronym to put it on a directional sign (Southern Illinois Multi Modal Station) pointing east from S. University along West Cherry/ Buckminiser Fuller Way. I am glad the same sign points toward the Amtrak station as more people will know what Amtrak is than SIMMS and are likely looking for the same location.

Multi Modal Station

 You know what the new transmodal station really needs?  A sign.  Make that two signs. One saying this is the Amtrak Station and one saying it is the Greyhound and other bus station.  Seriously, put signs up.  For years, those in the offices at the old train depot have had people coming in asking if it is the train station. There was even a sign put up a number of years ago telling train riders that the Amtrak station was two blocks south and still people kept asking.  Why?  Because the old train depot looks like a TRAIN DEPOT. The new building, while a nice addition to downtown, does not. The only signage currently on the outside of the building is a big one saying "Carbondale".

Given that the now demolished Amtrak station was built back in 1981 and 40 years later people still did not know where it was, putting signage up indicating the new building is now the train and bus depot seems a good idea. One on the building itself and one posted on a light pole out by the street.

Amtrak Station

 Demolition is proceeding on the now closed Amtrak station. I was reminded that the structure was actually built on wheels, in the event that the proposed Big Ditch, lowering the railroad tracks below ground level and creating overpasses at various crossings, ever got built.

Train speeds

 According to the news, Amtrak train speeds will finally increase from a top speed of 90 mph to 110 mph later this month, meaning people travelling to Chicago from Carbodnale should get there about 15% faster.

Amtrak Delays

According to a bill just introduced by Sen. Dick Durbin, Amtrak service to Carbondale is reliably unreliable. Trains from Chicago to Carbondale arrive on time only 17% of the time while if you leave Carbondale for Chicago, you will arrive on time only 6% of the time. Last time I took the train from Carbondale to New Orleans a number of years ago, it arrived over an hour late.

According to this article in the Southern, a good chunk of the problem comes from freight trains not yielding the right of way to passenger trains, accounting for a good 60% of the delays

Amtrak Renovations

Amtrak will start renovating the train depot next week. No idea as to how long they will take but the station will remain open with access during the renovation period. Just be careful when entering and exiting the station.

Temporary Train Schedule

Message from the city:

Illini Train 392 will operate 30 minutes later at all Amtrak stations on the route beginning March 22. Saturday and Sunday routes will operate as normal. Work is expected to be complete by May 4.

Intermodal Transport Hub

The plans for the proposed intermodal transport hub may be moving along a bit as some work has been done leveling and clearing the spack north of the Amtrak station, where Animal Crackers/ T. J. McFlys, /Golden Galleon stood for a number of years before getting demolished a few years ago. The plan is to move the bus depot to this area again, as well as provide pick-up/drop-off spots for the town's taxi services. Ideally, even Enterprise would move its offices to the spot,as would the various area transit services, providing a convenient location for all public transit within the community.

Downtown Hyatt

I gather the proposed downtown Hyatt on S. Illinois will prove more useful to the community than I thought. It appears we have a number of visitors in Carbondale who plan to arrive by train or bus and contact the Convention and Tourism Bureau asking for directions to a hotel or motel within walking distance of the station. Needless to say, there are no motels within walking distance of the Amtrak station so anyone arriving in Carbondale has to arrange for a taxi or other transportation to lodging.  Having the Hyatt in downtown and only a block away will alleviate that difficulty.

Greyhound Relocating

Starting tomorrow, Greyhound will load and unload at the downtown Amtrak station.  That has to make travelers more comfortable than getting picked up and dropped off at an abandoned gas station. 

Greyhound Lines, Inc. today announced it will start operations from a new location in Carbondale, Ill. Beginning Friday, Aug. 21, Greyhound customers can conveniently board at 401 S. Illinois Avenue at the Carbondale Amtrak station, less than two miles from the former location at 905 E. Main Street.

            “Greyhound is excited to continue serving the Carbondale community from this new location,” said Deborah Laney, area manager, Greyhound Lines, Inc. “We hope to better serve the Carbondale community by centralizing transportation services in this town. We are thankful to Amtrak and the City of Carbondale for their efforts to make this a reality.”

From the Amtrak station in Carbondale, Greyhound offers three daily schedules to destinations including Champaign, Ill., Atlanta and St. Louis, with connections to more than 3,800 locations in the United States. This location is only a bus stop and tickets must be purchased online. For ticket information, call 1-800-231-2222.

Amtrak

Gov. Rauner's proposed budget would cut state subsidies to Amtrak by about 40%, meaning routes are on the chopping block. I doubt the City of New Orleans would get cut but one of the two routes stopping in Carbondale would likely go away, making it just a bit harder to funnel students from upstate to SIUC and Carbondale. Given the current attendance at the university, we don't need anything making it harder for students to attend.

Intermodal Transit Center

Had a chat with Gary Williams, Economic Development Co-ordinator for Carbondale, this afternoon regarding the proposed intermodal transit center in Carbondale. The center would be located where the current Amtrak Station is and expand north into the empty lot where Animal Crackers stood.

The plan, as I understand it, is to expand the current Amtrak Station, incorporate a bus terminal for Greyhound into the structure and provide a centralized pick-up/drop-off point for all regional transit vehicles such as Saluki Express and Jackson County Transit, although they would still maintain their regular pickup schedule throughout the city.  Ideally, the facility would even have taxi stands or calling stations there as well as the office for the local Enterprise Rent A Car. while this would increase the likelihood of congestion in downtown, it would certainly drive more business into the heart of Carbondale, which would certainly help the community.

Sticking points are the need to work with the federal bureaucracy since Amtrak is a federal agency and the funding needed, which could be difficult given the city's projected budget shortfall of $1 million.  there is a meeting scheduled with Amtrak officials for July of this year but the city probably will not see the center put into operation much before 2020.

Amtrak Schedule Change

Southbound Train 391 Departs Earlier

Temporary Weekday Schedule Change

March 15-19, March 22-26 and March 29-April 2

On Monday through Friday of each week from March 15 through April 2, southbound Train 391 (The "Illini") will depart Chicago 25 minutes earlier and depart all remaining stations on the route 30 minutes earlier, due to track work being performed by Canadian National Railway. The weekday schedule shown below replaces the one published in Amtrak’s Fall 2009-Winter 2010 System Timetable. Please note: Saturday and Sunday schedules will not change.

Northbound Train 392 – Possible Delays: During this period, northbound Train 392 will operate according to the published schedule, but may encounter delays of up to 30 minutes on Mondays through Fridays.

Amtrak Down

Though Amtrak ridership is up overall in Illinois, to the tune of some 20%, Carbondale ridership is down about 5% since 2007. Though the officials quoted don't hazard a reason as to why, my guess would be the decline in SIUC attendance, as the students have always been the heaviest users of the rail.