500+ Passengers Rescued From Snow Stranded Amtrak Trains

Headed by bus to Chicago, where its cold

More than 500 passengers who spent the night aboard three Amtrak trains stranded in snow in Illinois were finally headed by bus Tuesday morning to Chicago, rail line officials said. All of the passengers were expected to arrive in Chicago by early afternoon.

The trains — the Southwest Chief from Los Angeles, the Illinois Zephyr from Quincy and the California Zephyr from the San Francisco Bay area — were halted starting around 3:30 p.m. CT Monday between Princeton and Mendota, about 80 miles from Chicago, said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari. He said that drifting snow and ice made the tracks impassable. No injuries were reported.