To Congress
Dear :
Please direct Amtrak to run its Washington-Chicago Cardinal train daily, and please make sure that Amtrak has the operating funds, locomotives, and passenger cars to do so.
The Cardinal runs only three times a week in each direction, and it is the only passenger train serving Charleston, WV; Cincinnati, OH; and many other points. It provides a transportation alternative to towns that have little else. The train has been reasonably well patronized, but it provides substandard service such that three major cities do not even have a passenger train every day. This is an uneconomical use of station facilities.
The train serves 11 states and Washington, DC. It provides interstate transportation and therefore is a federal responsibility. The states of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana particularly benefit from its service, and daily, reliable operation would not only improve the transportation choices for people in these states, it would assist their economies by making many points in these states more accessible to people living in other places on the Cardinal route and on connecting lines. 
The segment of the Cardinal route from Cincinnati to Chicago via Indianapolis is one of the federally designated high-speed corridors. Eventually we expect to see fast service several times a day between these cities, but even then daily, reliable service east of Cincinnati is important for the future high-speed service to be of benefit to Virginia and West Virginia, and a daily schedule is a realistic minimum for the current Cardinal service.
We look forward to your assistance in bringing this transportation improvement to the people of Virginia and West Virginia.
Sincerely yours,