If worrying about your dog or cat is all that’s stopping you from riding Amtrak, you may be in luck.
A pilot program – using the Chicago-Quincy route as the guinea pig – will allow passengers to bring dogs and cats on board. The four-footed passengers must weigh no more than twenty pounds and be confined to a carrier. There will be a $25 surcharge.
“We’re pretty excited to offer this opportunity,” says Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari. “If it goes well, we can expand it nationally.”
Illinois’ service is underwritten by the Illinois Department of Transportation, which Magliari says hatched the idea.