The ''River Cities'' was a passenger train operated by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

from 1984 to 1993 between Kansas City, Missouri, and

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, via

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. It operated as a

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of the ''

City of New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Mules.'' The two trains split in Carbondale, Illinois, with the ''River Cities'' continuing to St. Louis, where it joined with a ''Kansas City Mule''. For southbound trains the procedure was reversed; the ''River Cities'' would split from a ''St. Louis Mule'' and proceed to Carbondale, where it joined with the ''City of New Orleans'' for the journey to New Orleans. Before the Amtrak era, the ''City of New Orleans'' and its nighttime companion, the ''

Panama Limited The ''Panama Limited'' was a passenger train operated from 1911 to 1971 between Chicago, Illinois, and New Orleans, Louisiana. The flagship train of the Illinois Central Railroad, it took its name from the Panama Canal, which in 1911 was three yea ...

,'' had operated St. Louis sections that split in Carbondale. Amtrak ended the service on November 4, 1993, as part of national

cost-cutting Cost reduction is the process used by companies to reduce their costs and increase their profits. Depending on a company’s services or products, the strategies can vary. Every decision in the product development process affects cost: design i ...

measures, and instituted

Amtrak Thruway Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transi ...

service between St. Louis and

Centralia, Illinois Centralia is a city in Clinton, Jefferson, Marion, and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Illinois with the largest portion in Marion County. The city is the largest in three of the counties; Clinton, Marion, and Washington, but is not a ...

(since extended to Carbondale). The only city to permanently lose service was Belleville, Illinois.

Potential restoration

In June 2021, Senator

Jon Tester Raymond Jon Tester (born August 21, 1956) is an American farmer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Montana, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, Tester is the dean of Montana's congressi ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

added an amendment to the Surface Transportation Investment Act of 2021 which would require the Department of Transportation (not Amtrak itself) to evaluate the restoration of discontinued long-distance routes such as the ''River Cities''. The bill passed the

Senate Commerce Committee The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is a standing committee of the United States Senate. Besides having broad jurisdiction over all matters concerning interstate commerce, science and technology policy, a ...

with bipartisan support, and was later rolled into President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, which is still under consideration by Congress.

References

External links

1993 timetable
{{Former Amtrak routes Former Amtrak routes Railway services introduced in 1984 Railway services discontinued in 1993 Former long distance Amtrak routes Proposed Amtrak routes