LAFAYETTE — The Hoosier State train's history is fraught, to say the least.
It got its start shuffling equipment and cars back and forth between shops. Because the train didn’t carry freight or passengers, it was given the lowest priority on rails owned by CSX. It sometimes took days to make trips of less than 100 miles. A passenger car eventually was tacked on to the train to give it a higher priority.
Since those inauspicious beginnings, the train has seen numerous plot twists — the latest being this past week's surprise announcement from the Indiana Department of Transportation that Amtrak was taking over the line from Iowa Pacific Holdings.
That announcement raised more questions than answers. Chief among them, what prompted it? By all public accounts, and after years when the line's very viability was threatened, the train seemed to finally be thriving.
And why did INDOT bump the amount it pays Iowa Pacific by a factor of five — $150,000 per month to operate the train in January and February, after which Amtrak will take over, versus the about $30,000 per month it had been getting?
An Orwellian contract?
Iowa Pacific spent the past year touting improved on-time performance, increased ridership and new amenities. Behind the scenes, though, the company was hemorrhaging cash keeping the Hoosier State afloat. It approached INDOT last month asking for $900,000 to run the train through July, according to INDOT spokesman Will Wingfield. Without it, Iowa Pacific was going to pull out completely.