Amtrak restores full Hiawatha train service to Milwaukee
Amtrak has restored its Hiawatha train service between Chicago and Milwaukee after busing passengers for nearly two weeks while "corrosion" issues caused a shortage of railcars.
The rail agency began running the Hiawatha line without bus substitution on Friday after redeploying passenger railcars from elsewhere in its network, Amtrak said in a statement Sunday evening. Trains are running with less cars than usual, Amtrak said, so customers should book tickets early.
Daily train service between Chicago and St. Paul, Minnesota on Amtrak's Borealis line was restored a week earlier.
Amtrak resorted to chartering buses to and from Chicago Union Station on March 27, when the agency said several of its single-level Horizon passenger cars were removed from service due to "corrosion" discovered during inspections.
It made for a chaotic scene outside the station as passengers lined up on Jackson Boulevard to board buses and retrieve their luggage. Shuttle buses had replaced half of Amtrak’s six daily Hiawatha trains.