CHICAGO — You're charging HOW MUCH for a train ticket?!<br /><br />For normal people, hopping on an Amtrak to go from Chicago to Bloomington costs all of 16 bucks. But for two disabled riders using power wheelchairs, Amtrak quoted a whopping $25,000 for the same two-hour train ride.<br /><br />NPR reports that the two are part of a group from the disability service and advocacy organization Access Living, and had reached out to Amtrak for travel arrangements to go to a conference in Bloomington.<br /><br />The group's transportation policy director Adam Ballard says they've been booking train trips with Amtrak for years.<br /><br />In the past, larger groups with 10 to 15 wheelchair users have been accommodated on the trains. Amtrak simply took out seats to fit in more wheelchairs, for only a couple hundred dollars extra.<br /><br />But Amtrak agents cited a new policy for reconfiguring a train car, saying taking out extra seats would now cost over 25 Gs, as it means taking a car out of service.<br /><br />For that price, Ballard and company might as well just buy themselves a car.<br /><br />Unsurprisingly, Amtrak received serious backlash when news of the sky-high ticket prices got out.<br /><br />Senator Tammy Duckworth, a veteran who lost both legs in the Iraq War, called the price quote "outrageous" and said Amtrak "must do better moving forward." <br /><br />Fortunately, the PR folks at Amtrak realized how hot of a mess they were in and quickly backpedaled. NPR reports they told Access Living on Monday that they would accommodate all the wheelchairs onboard for the price of a regular ticket.<br /><br />It only took a crap ton of media and public criticism but hey, all's well that ends well.
