SIU President Ted Sanders, along with representatives of Carbondale and the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce, will attend a public hearing on Amtrak next week to encourage continued funding the Chicago to Carbondale route, a local state representative says.

State Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, said that a public hearing on Amtrak will take place at the Springfield Capitol Building on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in room 118. He said at the hearing that state leaders of the Illinois House and Senate will hear from representatives of Southern Illinois on the importance of the train.

Sanders said he is rearranging his schedule for the next week so that he can be in Springfield to testify before the committee.

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It’s something I want to do need to do, he said.

Sanders said he will try to be persuasive at the hearing to help keep the train running. He said the University and the city need to take advantage of every opportunity they have to help keep the Amtrak route.

I will try to convey the importance Amtrak has, not just in Southern Illinois but at SIU.

Federal budget cuts have forced Amtrak to ask state legislators for a $2.5 million subsidy to continue service of the train Illini through June 30.

Bost said after Sanders and the other representatives testify, he plans to introduce legislation concerning Amtrak.

The legislation plans to recommend continued funding of Amtrak while we look for a long-term solution, Bost said.

Bost said that if the Illinois Government continues to fund the Amtrak route, the state will recommend several plans for Amtrak to cut expenses. If Amtrak can accept the recommendations it will save money and lessen the state’s burden.

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We will recommend that Amtrak privatize food service, he said. That alone will save them $1 million.

Marc Magliari, public affairs manager for Amtrak, said that he agrees with Bost on the proposals.

Privatizing food service is projected to save a considerable amount of money, he said. We need to work with the state to find someone willing to do it.

Bost said another proposal is to hire SIU students for jobs at the depot station in Carbondale.

Magliari said that some of the depot jobs are already contracted but that it is an agreeable idea for other jobs at the station.

While the legislators may have enough votes to move the bill through the hearing committee, Bost said he knows it will be tough to move the bill through the House and Senate floor.

There are 118 districts, he said. Some believe the train being cut affects 20 of them, and not all sides agree on how it affects what, he said. This, however, goes further than the 20 districts. We need to let them know that.

Bost said that drafting the bill has called for some compromise with another district.

We had to add funding for a police helicopter for another district to start the bill, he said. But it stops there, no more additions to the bill.

Bost said that both his Carbondale and his Springfield office have been flooded with letters, calls and petitions defending the route for him to take to the governor.