MIPRC & member state DOTs file comments on FRA's long-distance service study

…Supporting the restoration of the North Coast Hiawatha. The Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC) … said that restoring the following long-distance routes discontinued in 1979 would “greatly enhance the backbone of service that long-distance routes provide” while also allowing the Midwest’s regional plans to then build upon them:

• The North Coast Hiawatha, which ran from Chicago to Seattle via the Twin Cities, Fargo and Bismarck, ND, and the middle tier of Montana.

and The National Limited, which ran from Kansas City to Washington, D.C./New York City via St. Louis; Effingham, Illinois; Indianapolis; Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, The Lone Star, which ran from Houston to Chicago via Wichita, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo. and The Floridian, which ran from Chicago to Miami/St. Peterburg via Indianapolis; Louisville, Ky.; Nashville, Tenn.; Montgomery, Ala.; and Jacksonville, Fla. 

MIPRC said that these restored routes would provide new north-south “backbone” long-distance services for both western and eastern parts of the Midwest, and a new east-west service for both western and eastern parts of the region. Read more.