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Illinois Reaches Deal With Amtrak

flickr / jpmueller99

Illinois has reached a deal with Amtrak to keep its trains running in the state. 

Illinois was one of 19 states forced to come up with more money for Amtrak's short-distance passenger rail. That's because of a federal law that affected more than two-dozen routes across the country.

The deadline was supposed to be at the beginning of the month, through trains would have kept running through Oct. 16. After that, Amtrak was going to stop.

Most Illinois routes would have been OK. The state already pays for three of its four short lines -- from Chicago to Wisconsin, Quincy, and Carbondale. It also pays for most of the round trips from Chicago to St. Louis. The difference is now, it'll pay for all of them.

Representatives from Amtrak and the Illinois Department of Transportation separately confirmed the agreement, but neither was willing to speak on tape.

The only state yet to make a deal with Amtrak is Indiana. That's for the Hoosier State line, which runs from Indianapolis to Chicago.