ABOARD THE HOOSIER STATE — The Hoosier State rolled up to the boarding platform at the Big Four Depot in downtown Lafayette.
On a rainy, gray Wednesday in November, roughly a dozen people boarded the 7:33 a.m. train that runs four days a weekbetween Indianapolis and Chicago, with stops in Lafayette and three other cities.
One passenger was Wanda Rose of West Lafayette.
The train has become a lifeline, Rose said, explaining that she has relied on the service several times a month since July to follow up on chemotherapy treatments that began one year ago when she lived in Chicago.
“It’s peaceful for me,” Rose said. “It calms me, and gives me time to think and prepare for where I need to go.”
But Rose’s lifeline almost disappeared this year after Congress cut funding for Amtrak lines shorter than 750 miles, effective Oct. 1. Indiana initially balked at the prospect of picking up the federal government’s expense of subsidizing the 196-mile route, which doesn’t come close to paying for itself.
Operating and equipment expenses were estimated at $3.8 million for the line that carries about 37,000 passengers per year, according to the Indiana Department of Transportation. Riders pay $22 for a one-way trip and $44 for a round trip.
The state said it would have to pay $80.08 on top of that to underwrite the cost of carrying each passenger.