State House

Southbound State House at Joliet Union Station in 1999
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Discontinued
Locale	Illinois/ St. Louis, Missouri
First service	October 1, 1973
Last service	October 30, 2006
Successor	Lincoln Service
Former operator(s)	Amtrak
Route
Termini	Chicago, Illinois St. Louis, Missouri
Stops	9
Distance travelled	284 miles (457 km)
Average journey time	5 hours 30 minutes
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	300, 302, 305, & 307
On-board services
Class(es)	Business class Reserved coach
Catering facilities	On-board cafe
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map Legend Dist. Station 0 mi Chicago Union Station 12 mi 19 km Summit 37 mi 60 km Joliet 74 mi 119 km Dwight 92 mi 148 km Pontiac 124 mi 200 km Bloomington-Normal 156 mi 251 km Lincoln 185 mi 298 km Springfield 224 mi 360 km Carlinville 257 mi 414 km Alton Mississippi River Illinois Missouri 284 mi 457 km St. Louis This diagram: view talk edit

The State House was a passenger train operated by Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) between Chicago, Illinois, and St. Louis, Missouri in the United States. This service began in 1973 and continued until 2006, when it was re-branded as the Lincoln Service as part of a three-fold service expansion over that route.

History

The State House's existence is book-ended by two dramatic changes in the state of Illinois' passenger rail service. The State House made its first run on October 1, 1973, the same day that two French-built Turboliner trainsets replaced the conventional Abraham Lincoln and Prairie State on the Chicago—St. Louis corridor. This third round-trip was intended as a Chicago—Springfield route and received funding from the Illinois Department of Transportation. Amtrak decided to continue the train to St. Louis (at its own expense) via Carlinville and Alton because of the difficulty in turning the train in Springfield.^{[1]: 227 [2]}

Over its 33-year history the State House stopped in Joliet, Pontiac, Lincoln, Springfield, Carlinville, Alton and St. Louis. Service to Bloomington ended on June 10, 1990, when operations moved to a new station up the tracks in Normal. Service to Dwight began October 26, 1986, and Summit on October 25, 1987.^[1]: 236

From 1986 to 1996, the State House was complemented as far as Springfield by the Loop, which departed Chicago in the morning and returned in the afternoon.

Amtrak re-branded the State House as the Lincoln Service on October 30, 2006,^[3] as it and Illinois launched two additional round-trips over the same corridor.^[4]