State Rep. Mike Bost, R- Murphysboro, was in attendance to thank the council for their actions and to update them on his efforts in the capital to save the Illini route.

I have 1,448 signatures and 217 letters in my office supporting continued funding, he said. I am personally going to deliver these to the governor.

Federal budget cuts have forced Amtrak to ask Illinois legislators for a $2.5 million subsidy to fund the Illini through June 30. A spokesman for the governor has said that the governor would like a long-term solution to this problem and not more stop gap spending. Gov. Jim Edgar has said he would like to hear from the people of Southern Illinois before making a commitment.

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Carbondale Mayor Neil Dillard said Carbondale citizens need to unite in an effort to make the governor know how important the route is to the city.

If anyone wishes to gather their own signatures, we encourage them, Dillard said. This train is of vital importance to the Carbondale community.

The council watched a video produced by the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with SIUC which is supportive of the route. The video will be sent to Edgar.

Rebecca Whittington, president of the chamber who spoke before the council, said the video is an extension of Southern Illinois.

We cannot all go to Springfield and talk to the governor, so we made this video, she said. We need to impress on the governor the people affected, not the statistics.

Council member Margaret Flanagan said the video showed many of the people that turned out to help in the effort to save the train.

The citizens of Carbondale have turned out in mass to help, she said.

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Bost said the video was a powerful tool conveying Southern Illinois’ feeling about the train.

The video showed citizens of Carbondale and students using the train. Those interviewed said the train is their only transportation to other parts of the state. Some of the students said that they would not have a way to school without the route.

One segment of the video showed an elderly woman in a wheelchair who said she cannot travel on buses, and she said no planes that service this area are equipped for her needs. The train is her only means of travel to visit her family, she said.