Cardinal (train)

Cardinal

Eastbound Cardinal stopped in Prince, West Virginia
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail Higher speed rail (NEC only)
Locale	Midwestern United States Southeastern United States Mid-Atlantic states
Predecessor	James Whitcomb Riley
First service	October 30, 1977
Current operator(s)	Amtrak
Ridership	113,103 total (FY13)
Route
Start	Chicago, Illinois
End	New York City
Distance travelled	1,146 miles (1,844 km)
Average journey time	26.5 hours
Service frequency	Thrice-weekly
Train number(s)	50/51
On-board services
Class(es)	First class sleeper Reserved coach
Seating arrangements	Airline-style
Sleeping arrangements	Roomettes and bedrooms
Catering facilities	Diner/lounge
Baggage facilities	Checked baggage available at selected stations
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Track owner(s)	Amtrak, CSX, BB, NS, CN, UP, and Metra
Route map Legend Dist. Station Northeast Corridor to Boston 0 mi  0 km  New York City NY NJ across Hudson River North River Tunnels 10 mi  16 km  Newark 58 mi  93 km  Trenton NJ PA across Delaware River File:BSicon TUNNEL legende.svg 91 mi  146 km  Philadelphia PA DE 116 mi  187 km  Wilmington DE MD 185 mi  298 km  Baltimore MD DC 225 mi  362 km  Washington, DC DC VA across Potomac River 233 mi  375 km  Alexandria 258 mi  415 km  Manassas 258 mi  415 km  Culpeper 340 mi  547 km  Charlottesville 379 mi  610 km  Staunton 437 mi  703 km  Clifton Forge VA WV 472 mi  760 km  White Sulphur Springs 496 mi  798 km  Alderson 517 mi  832 km  Hinton 540 mi  869 km  Prince 551 mi  887 km  Thurmond 592 mi  953 km  Montgomery 619 mi  996 km  Charleston 668 mi  1075 km  Huntington WV KY across Big Sandy River Catlettsburg(discontinued) 683 mi  1099 km  Ashland 712 mi  1146 km  South Portsmouth–South Shore 766 mi  1233 km  Maysville KY OH across Ohio River 828 mi  1333 km  Cincinnati 851 mi  1370 km  Hamilton(discontinued) OH IN 893 mi  1437 km  Connersville 951 mi  1530 km  Indianapolis 998 mi  1606 km  Crawfordsville 1025 mi  1650 km  Lafayette 1072 mi  1725 km  Rensselaer 1118 mi  1799 km  Dyer IN IL 1147 mi  1846 km  Chicago

The Cardinal is a thrice-weekly long distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York Penn Station and Chicago Union Station, with major intermediate stops at Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Charlottesville, Charleston, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis. Trains depart New York on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and depart Chicago on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The 1,146-mile (1,844 km) trip between the termini of the route takes 26​¹⁄₂ hours.

The Hoosier State provides service on the 196-mile (315 km) segment of the Cardinal route between Indianapolis and Chicago on the four days of the week when it is not otherwise provided by the Cardinal.

During fiscal year 2013, the Cardinal carried 113,103 passengers, off 2.8% from 2012 when the route had a record ridership of 116,373. The 2012 ridership was a 4.9% increase over 2011, when the line carried 110,923 passengers, which was up 3.6% from 107,842 riders in 2010.

The Cardinal had a record revenue of $7,733,458 in fiscal year 2013, up 2.6% from a total of $7,536,903 in fiscal year 2012, itself an increase of 6.2% from 2011 when the route brought in $7,097,809. The 2011 figure was an 11.3% increase from 2010.

History

Main articles: James Whitcomb Riley (train) and George Washington (train)

The Cardinal is the successor of several previous trains, primarily the New York Central (later Penn Central) James Whitcomb Riley and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) George Washington. The James Whitcomb Riley was a daytime all-coach train which operated between Chicago and Cincinnati (via Indianapolis), while the George Washington was a C&O sleeper that ran between Cincinnati, Washington, D.C., and Newport News, Virginia. Up until the late 1950s, the Riley would carry the Washington's sleeper cars between Cincinnati and Chicago. Both routes survived until the formation of Amtrak in 1971.

Amtrak kept service mostly identical at first. Through Washington–Chicago and Newport News–Chicago coaches began operating July 12, and a through sleeping car began September 8. Throughout the 1970s Amtrak would drop the George Washington name and re-route the train off the rapidly deteriorating Penn Central track in Indiana. The Newport News section ended in 1976, replaced by the New York–Newport News Colonial.

The James Whitcomb Riley was renamed the Cardinal on October 30, 1977, as the Cardinal was the state bird of all six states through which it ran. However, due to poor track conditions in Indiana, the train was rerouted numerous times, first over various Penn Central/Conrail routings, then ultimately over the former Baltimore and Ohio route via Cottage Grove by 1980.

The Cardinal was eventually extended from Washington, D.C. to New York City, but was discontinued on September 30, 1981. A congressional mandate resurrected the train on January 8, 1982, and followed another new route, via Richmond, Indiana and Muncie, Indiana. This arrangement lasted until April 27, 1986, when the train was finally moved to its current route via Indianapolis.

Hoosier State

Main articles: Hoosier State (train) and Kentucky Cardinal (Amtrak)

With the Indianapolis routing, the Cardinal began operating jointly with the Chicago–Indianapolis Hoosier State. The Hoosier State operated to Indianapolis on the days the Cardinal does not. This pattern ceased on October 25, 1987, then resumed again on July 19, 1998. On December 17, 1999, Amtrak extended the Hoosier State to Jeffersonville, Indiana (and later to Louisville, Kentucky) and renamed the train the Kentucky Cardinal. This new train was a daily service; on days when the Cardinal operated, the two trains ran combined between Indianapolis and Chicago. Amtrak ultimately discontinued the Kentucky Cardinal on July 4, 2003.

Plans

In the July 2010 issue of Trains magazine, the Cardinal was noted as being one of five routes under consideration for performance improvement. For the Cardinal, the proposed changes include:

• Daily operation from tri-weekly
• Conversion back to Superliner equipment
• Changing the western terminus to St. Louis, Missouri

In addition, Railfan and Railroad magazine suggested that the train be rerouted to St. Louis as well, with a separate section bound for Chicago.

In early October 2010, Amtrak released a report detailing plans to increase the Cardinal's service from three trains a week to daily service, as well as increasing the train's on-time performance and food service. The January 2011 issue of Trains later revealed that that Amtrak would scrap re-routing and Superliner conversion and instead adopt not only daily service, but also purchasing dome cars to be used along the Chicago-Washington, D.C. portion of the trip. In addition, the routing into Chicago Union Station would be changed and station platforms along the route containing coal dust would be scrubbed and cleaned.

However, obstacles to a daily Cardinal persist. Track capacity is limited on the Buckingham Branch Railroad in Virginia where the Cardinal operates, preventing frequent freight trains from passing a daily Cardinal. This problem applies also to the planned but failed Greenbrier Presidential Express train, which would also have traversed the Buckingham Branch on a weekly basis. The Buckingham Branch requires additional funding to expand several sidings before allowing additional service.

Train consist

In the early 1990s, the Cardinal ran with the usual Amtrak long-distance consist of two F40s/E60 plus several MHC and material handling baggage cars, followed by several Amfleet coaches, an Amfleet lounge, a Heritage diner, two or three Heritage 10-6 sleepers, a slumbercoach, and finally, a baggage dormitory car. Following the delivery of the Superliner II fleet, however, the Cardinal was re-equipped with Superliner cars in 1995. As a result, its route was truncated to end in Washington D.C. as the Superliner equipment could not run into Penn Station, New York, due to low clearances there. With the Superliner equipment, the consist would usually be two Superliner sleeping cars, a diner, a Sightseer Lounge, a baggage coach, and a coach.

In 2002, two derailments on other routes took numerous Superliner cars out of service. Because of this, insufficient Superliner equipment was available for use on the Cardinal. The Cardinal was re-equipped with a consist of single-level long-distance cars, including dining, lounge, sleeping, and dormitory cars. Subsequent fleet shortages shortened the Cardinal further, and at one point, the train was running with two or three Amfleet II coaches and a combined diner-lounge car. While the sleeping car was later restored, the Cardinal has not had a dormitory car or a diner since. Similarly, though the baggage car was also removed, it was restored in response to an upturn in patronage in mid-2010.

The Cardinal's current typical consist is a single locomotive, a Viewliner baggage car, one or two Viewliner sleeping cars, two to four Amfleet II long-distance coaches, and a single Amfleet diner-lounge car.

Route overview

The Cardinal's route is one of the most scenic in Amtrak's system. After an early morning departure from NYC, the train passes through Virginia's rolling horse country, across the Blue Ridge and the Shenandoah Valley. Then the train climbs the Allegheny Mountains and stops at the resort town of White Sulphur Springs, with its famous The Greenbrier hotel. The Cardinal descends on tracks through the New River Gorge National River, a unit of the National Park Service protecting the longest deepest river gorge in the Eastern U.S. The river is popular for white water rafting, and the cliffs attract rock climbers. The forests blaze with autumn foliage and the train usually sells out during the peak season. In 2013, the Cardinal used the only remaining full-length dome car in Amtrak service, car number 10031, to try to accommodate the leaf peepers.

The schedules are timed to provide a daylight transit of the spectacular gorge almost all year. So westbound, the train travels at night from Charleston, West Virginia on to Indianapolis, where it arrives about dawn, reaching Chicago in mid-morning. Eastbound the Cardinal departs late afternoon, reaching Indianapolis before midnight, Charleston mid-morning, and NYC in the late evening. Unfortunately, Cincinnati is served both directions with stops after midnight, yet about 15,000 passengers a year arrive or depart from this station.

The Cardinal is one of only two of Amtrak's 15 long distance trains to operate only three days a week, the other being the Sunset Limited. This schedule, 3-day-a-week on and 4-days-a-week off, is a severe disadvantage to attracting potential riders. Costs are high because crew members are provided "away pay" and rooms while they wait an unproductive day or two before the next run of the train.

Route details

Amtrak Cardinal (interactive map)

The Cardinal operates over Amtrak, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, Buckingham Branch Railroad, Canadian National Railway, Union Pacific Railroad, and Metra trackage:

• Amtrak Northeast Corridor, New York to Washington
• CSX RF&P Subdivision, Washington to Alexandria
• NS Washington District, Alexandria to Orange
• BB Orange Subdivision and North Mountain Subdivision, Orange to Clifton Forge
• CSX Alleghany Subdivision, New River Subdivision, Kanawha Subdivision, Russell Subdivision, Northern Subdivision, Cincinnati Subdivision, Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision, Indianapolis Subdivision, Indianapolis Terminal Subdivision, Crawfordsville Branch Subdivision, Lafayette Subdivision, and Monon Subdivision, Clifton Forge to Munster
• CN Elsdon Subdivision, Munster to Thornton
• UP Villa Grove Subdivision, Thornton to 81st Street
• Metra SouthWest Service, 81st Street to Chicago
• NS Chicago Line, CP 518 to Chicago (Depending on Dispatcher preference, The Cardinal often runs between CP 518 and 21st Street on NS)

Station stops

State/Province	Town/City	Station	Connections
Illinois	Chicago	Chicago Union Station	Amtrak: Blue Water, Capitol Limited, Carl Sandburg, California Zephyr, City of New Orleans, Empire Builder, Hiawatha Service, Hoosier State, Illini, Illinois Zephyr, Lake Shore Limited, Lincoln Service, Pere Marquette, Saluki, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle, Wolverine, Thruway Motorcoach CTA Buses: 1, 7, 14, 19, 20, X20, X28, 56, 60, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 128, 129, 130, 151, 156, 157, 192 CTA Subway Stops: Clinton Blue Line, Quincy Brown, Orange, Pink, and Purple Lines Megabus: M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6, M7 Metra: North Central Service, Milwaukee District/North Line, Milwaukee District/West Line, BNSF Railway Line, Heritage Corridor, SouthWest Service
Indiana	Dyer	Dyer Amtrak Station	None
	Rensselaer	Rensselaer Amtrak station	None
	Lafayette	Lafayette Amtrak Station	Greyhound Lines CityBus: 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 4A, 4B, 5, 6A, 6B, 7
	Crawfordsville	Crawfordsville Station	None
	Indianapolis	Indianapolis station	Amtrak: Thruway Motorcoach (Burlington Trailways) IndyGo: Route 16
	Connersville	Connersville station	None
Ohio	Cincinnati	Cincinnati Union Terminal	SORTA: 1 (First bus is is at 5:45am on weekdays)
Kentucky	Maysville	Maysville station	Maysville Transit
	South Shore	South Portsmouth-South Shore	None
	Ashland	Ashland Transportation Center	Greyhound Lines ABS: All routes
West Virginia	Huntington	Huntington Amtrak station	Tri-State Transit Authority: 2, 4, 5, 6, 10
	Charleston	Charleston Amtrak station	KRT: Route 18
	Montgomery	Montgomery station	KRT: Route 9, 22
	Thurmond	Thurmond station
	Prince	Prince depot
	Hinton	Hinton Amtrak Station
	Alderson	Alderson station
	White Sulphur Springs	White Sulphur Springs station
Virginia	Clifton Forge	Clifton Forge station
	Staunton	Staunton Amtrak station	Staunton Free Trolley: Green Route CATS: 250 Connector (at Staunton Visitor Center)
	Charlottesville	Charlottesville Union Station	Amtrak: Crescent, Northeast Regional, Thruway Motorcoach to Richmond (James River Transportation) & Washington D.C. (through ticketing on existing Greyhound Lines route) Greyhound Lines CAT: T, 7
	Culpeper	Culpeper	Amtrak: Crescent, Northeast Regional
	Manassas	Manassas	Amtrak: Crescent, Northeast Regional VRE: Manassas Line PRTC: Manassas Metro Direct, OmniLink Manassas
	Alexandria	Alexandria Union Station	Amtrak: Crescent, Northeast Regional, Silver Meteor, Silver Star VRE: Fredericksburg Line, Manassas Line Metro: Blue Line, Yellow Line Metrobus: REX, 28A, 28B, 29K, 29N DASH: AT2, AT5, AT6, AT7, AT8, AT10
District of Columbia	Washington	Washington Union Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Capitol Limited, Carolinian, Crescent, Palmetto, Northeast Regional, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter, Thruway Motorcoach to Charlottesville, Virginia MARC Train: Brunswick Line, Camden Line, Penn Line VRE: Manassas Line, Fredericksburg Line Metro: Red Line Metrobus: D3, D6, D8, X1, X2, X8, X9, 80, 96, 97 DC Circulator: Georgetown, Navy Yard MTA Maryland: 903, 922 Loudoun County Transit: Loudoun County PRTC: Dale City Washington D.C. is where the Cardinal switches between electrification and diesel locomotive services: Trains going to Chicago must switch from an AEM-7 or an ACS-64 electric locomotive to a GE Genesis P42DC diesel locomotive as there are no facilities, including catenary wires, between Washington and Chicago that support electric locomotives. Trains going to New York must switch from a GE Genesis P42DC diesel locomotive to either an AEM-7 or an ACS-64 electric locomotive due to diesels not being allowed in the North River Tunnels into NYC from New Jersey.
Maryland	Baltimore	Baltimore Penn Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Carolinian, Crescent, Palmetto, Northeast Regional, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter MARC Train: Penn Line MTA Maryland: Light Rail, 3, 11, 61, 64
Delaware	Wilmington	Wilmington Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Carolinian, Crescent, Palmetto, Northeast Regional, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter DART First State: 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 20, 21, 28, 32, 301 SEPTA Regional Rail: Wilmington/Newark Line
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	30th Street Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Carolinian, Crescent, Keystone Service, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter NJ Transit: Atlantic City Line SEPTA City Transit Division: Market-Frankford Line, SEPTA Subway-Surface Trolley Lines (Route 10, Route 11, Route 13, Route 34, Route 36), 9, 30, 31, 44, 62, 121, 316 SEPTA Suburban Transit Division: 124, 125 SEPTA Regional Rail: Airport Line, Warminster Line, Wilmington/Newark Line, West Trenton Line, Media/Elwyn Line, Lansdale/Doylestown Line, Paoli/Thorndale Line, Manayunk/Norristown Line, Cynwyd Line, Trenton Line, Chestnut Hill East Line, Chestnut Hill West Line, Fox Chase Line
New Jersey	Trenton	Trenton Rail Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Carolinian, Crescent, Keystone Service, Northeast Regional, Pennsylvanian, Silver Star, Silver Meteor, Vermonter NJ Transit: Northeast Corridor Line, River Line, 409, 418, 600, 601, 604, 606, 608, 609, 611, 619 SEPTA Regional Rail: Trenton Line SEPTA Suburban Transit Division: Route 127
	Newark	Newark Penn Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Carolinian, Crescent, Keystone Service, Northeast Regional, Pennsylvanian, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter NJ Transit: Newark City Subway, Newark Light Rail, North Jersey Coast Line, Northeast Corridor Line, Raritan Valley Line, 1, 5, 21, 34, 40, 62, 67, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76, 78, 79, 108, 308, 319 PATH: NWK-WTC Coach USA: 31, 44
New York	New York City	Penn Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Adirondack, Carolinian, Crescent, Ethan Allen Express, Keystone Service, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter LIRR: Main Line NJ Transit: North Jersey Coast Line, Northeast Corridor Line, Gladstone Branch, Montclair-Boonton Line, Morristown Line NYC Subway: 1 2 3 A C E trains NYC Transit buses: M4, M7, M20, M34 / M34A Select Bus Service, Q32

Further reading

• Mike Schafer, Amtrak's atlas, Trains June 1991

External links

• Amtrak - Cardinal / Hoosier State
• Amtrak October 2010 report on the Cardinal