The Hoosier State passenger rail service between Indianapolis and Chicago will run for the last time on April 1, the Indiana Department of Transportation announced Friday.
The state had been negotiating with Amtrak to continue service after the current contract expires next month. But after more than two years of effort and more than $3 million in state and local tax dollars spent to keep the Amtrak-operated Hoosier State running, the state said it ran into an obstacle it can't overcome.
The Federal Railroad Administration ruled that Indiana would become a railroad carrier under a new agreement INDOT attempted to negotiate with Amtrak and Iowa Pacific Holdings, a private company that would have marketed the service and provided and maintained rail cars which Amtrak staff would have operated.
As an operator, the state would be responsible for ensuring compliance with federal safety requirements including:
Liability for up to $200 million in each occurrence of injury, death or property damage
Hiring new staff to monitor plans and programs in compliance with federal rules
Making state rail employees subject to retirement and employer liability rules and limits
A redundant layer of bureaucracy and liability expense would only increase taxpayer costs, INDOT commissioner Karl Browning said.
"We've done a monumental job of trying to put together a very creative situation where the private sector could help make this a profitable entity," he said.
But then he added: "The notion of the state becoming a railroad ... is insane."