Amtrak

After nearly four years of waiting and nominations by two different presidents, the mayor of Normal, Illinois has a seat on the board of the nation's passenger rail service.

The recommendations in the report are for safety improvements to the state’s three passenger rail lines. They come a little more than one year after a train-truck crash killed four people.

The faster speed doesn’t meet the federal definition of high-speed rail – 125 mph – but the new Lincoln Service is faster than most other Amtrak trains.

Amtrak and the Illinois Department of Transportation received federal approval for the trains traveling between Chicago and St. Louis to have a maximum speed of 110 mph, up from 90 mph.

The passenger train, which departed from Kansas City Tuesday morning, was headed to Chicago via St. Louis and crashed just north of Pleasant Hill. No passengers or staff aboard were injured.

Fundraising efforts to renovate Kirkwood's historic train station are receiving a boost through a $2.5 million federal matching grant.

The intersection where the speeding train collided with a lumbering truck has drawn complaints for years. Now the widow of the dump truck driver killed in the Amtrak collision in Missouri is suing a railroad inspector and the county where the collision occurred.

Passengers were aboard the Southwest Chief, which left Kansas City around 11 a.m. The train left the tracks near Mendon, Missouri, after hitting a dump truck at a public crossing. Four people are confirmed dead.

On Monday, Amtrak cut services between Kansas City and St. Louis by half. Now only one round trip per day is offered, and many riders say they are having to change their travel or work plans.

Spokesman Marc Magliari discussed some of the latest changes along Amtrak corridors that run through St. Louis. Service along the passenger rail line that runs between St. Louis and Kansas City was just reduced by 50% due to a lack of funding from the state of Missouri.