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Well, if you are traveling out of Chicago, you get access to that Awesome lounge. They gave me an extra Coke and snacks.

This guy pointed out the same problem: Amtrak Illini Service 393: Chicago to Carbondale (Business Class) w/ SUPERLINERS / Disappointing?? - YouTube

Oh. I didn't actually think of that.

I understand the security concerns, but if they are truly worried, why not have all Northeast Corridor trains terminate in Baltimore and just shut down Union Station entirely. Only cancelling the Virginia service seems a little strange to me. Amtrak suspends some service south of DC ahead of...

Chicago Has some pretty good departures and are more evenly spread out. STL should just mirror the Chicago departures. Also, why is there an express train that goes southbound but not one that goes northbound?

Here are the top city pairs on the Texas Eagle. I think its pretty telling that the top 3 are stations along the Lincoln service and the number one, is again, Chicago and St. Louis.

Ok. This is from the RPA website. As you can see, STL and CHI is the top city pair. Alton and CHI is also in 4th, and there is also a noticeable amount going between Joliet and STL. So, three out of the top ten city pairs are going between the St. louis area and the Chicago area.

From here: Illinois Passenger Rail: Information Center - Document Library (illinoisrail.org)

Another thing that I never understood is why is there an express that goes southbound (at least pre-pandemic) but not one that goes northbound?

Sort of. According to this official Amtrak ridership data, STL is the second most used station on the line.

I swore off the Eagle years ago. Last time I rode it, it was brutal. The train was two hours late, is no wifi, no one in my group could find seats together, and on top of that, the trip actually longer that the Lincoln service, despite making less stops. Hopefully some of these problems will be...

Whoever decided this needs to be fired. Who wants to catch a train at 4:30 in the morning? The prepandemic departure times were already pretty bad, but the 6:40 and 3:00 departures were usable. Why cant the be a departure between 8:00 - 10:00 am like Chicago? I know that trains had to be cut for...

The "business class" section of the train.

Ok. I just saw an interview with someone from IDOT. He said that since the café cars will not arrive until 2022, the initial consist will be 4 Venture coaches and a legacy café/business car. He also said that they will be going to the Lincoln Service first. That makes sense, given that it is the...

Yes. And the seats look similar.

Personally, I think the trains that have the business/cafe car should be called First Class, because it honestly seems to be closer to first class on the Acela than the other business class options. Of course if they do that, they would probably feel that that would allow them to jack up the price.

I asked the conductor because I was curious. He claimd that it is their winter fleet. They mentioned something to do with pipes freezing. I don't believe that, because the amfleets and horizons are still used on all the other regional lines out of Chicago year round. Also, the Pere Marquette...

They will have the 2+1 seating.

I actually remember reading an article a couple years ago about all the inconsistencies about Amtrak's business class. I believe this is it: Amtrak's Business Class too often isn't worth the extra fare - Trains Magazine - Trains News Wire, Railroad News, Railroad Industry News, Web Cams, and Forms

I honestly think just riding on the lower level is better, and its half the cost. Hopefully, they will stop the occasional use of the superliners on the Illini/Saluki ounce the new Venture cars are put in service.