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During fiscal-year 2004, all of the trains that Amtrak operates under contract with the Illinois Department of Transportation posted ridership increases.

The Chicago-to-St. Louis State House carried 107,732 passengers, a 12.3 percent increase compared with FY2003’s 95,933 passengers. The Chicago-to-Milwaukee Hiawatha service carried 439,865 passengers in FY2004, a 12.8 percent increase compared with last year’s 389,787.

Ridership on the Chicago-to-Carbondale, Ill., Illini was up 11.9 percent from 96,595 in FY2003 to 108,099 — the service’s highest ridership figure in 10 years. Also posting a decade-high figure: the Chicago-to-Quincy Illinois Zephyr, which increased ridership 8.6 percent to 104,516 passengers.

Between July 2003 and June, IDOT contributed about $12 million to the four routes. The state’s general assembly approved spending the same amount in FY2005.