Campbell and Klinker advocate for funding the Hoosier State line
INDIANAPOLIS – Representatives Chris Campbell (D-West Lafayette) and Sheila Klinker (D-Lafayette) today joined with the Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance, Beech Grove Mayor Dennis Buckley, Transportation Workers Union Local 2003 President, Danny Groves, and workers from the Amtrak maintenance site in Beech Grove to call on Republicans to fund the Hoosier State line in the two-year state budget.
The Hoosier State line stops in Lafayette four days a week and is a reliable source of transportation for students attending Purdue University who travel home to Indianapolis, Chicago, and towns in northwest Indiana like Rensselaer and Dyer. The lack of funding for the Hoosier State line will also relocate the jobs of 500 Hoosiers who work at an Amtrak maintenance facility in Beech Grove to other states in the Midwest that are investing in rail transportation.
“My constituents in West Lafayette want this rail line to continue,” said Campbell. “I offered an amendment to the House version of the budget that was voted down by the majority party, which is unfortunate because we have a lot of students and workers in the West Lafayette and Lafayette area who rely on this line of transportation to get to and from Purdue University to Indianapolis or Chicago. The good news is that the budget is not final yet. We will keep fighting to add in the funding for the Hoosier State line, so that Amtrak can continue service, hundreds of Hoosiers can keep their jobs, and we can continue to invest in rail transportation in Indiana.”
Klinker added, “The Hoosier State line is well worth fighting for. We should be looking for ways to improve and invest in rail transportation rather than cutting funding. It’s a reliable and affordable means of transportation for students and Hoosiers who can’t afford a car. I’d really like to see the $3 million needed to keep the Hoosier Rail line up and running included in the two-year budget.”
Without the $3 million in funding, the Hoosier Rail line will stop service on June 30, 2019.