(07-12-2023 01:15 AM)Schaefer Beer Wrote:  57, what i was trying to convey was that the bus would stop at these Mayberry type towns and 20 people would get on. I couldn't figure out why a podunk town would have many people waiting for the bus. Then when I'm was told that these small towns had prisons, it made sense.

Apologies, but I still don't see the relevance. So why are 20 people getting on the bus from a Mayberry type town with a prison? Were those people visiting the incarcerated? Where they employees who commute? God forbid, they weren't escapees. Lacking a car, I often rode the bus during my college days because it was relatively cheap and even when the weather was bad, still got to where I needed to go.

Greyhound bus crash in southern Illinois. 3 dead.

I'd like to see the old DeKalb train station preserved and reused in some way. That said, I'm not sure METRA is the answer here. I just don't think there's enough population to justify the expense. It would be nice to have METRA from Chicago to DeKalb with a functioning station, but money doesn't grow on trees. While I'm happy Rockford is finally getting a rail line, I don't know if there will be enough ridership to justify it long-term, and the Rockford/Belvidere area has a larger population than DeKalb/Sycamore. But at least they're getting a chance to show it.

If AMTRAK was an option, it would make more sense, but I doubt there's urge to run a line between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa.