Duckworth Calls Chicago Amtrak Quote For Wheelchair Users Outrageous

Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth is calling a quote by Chicago Amtrak to accommodate a group of wheelchair users “outrageous.” An official with Access Living says the group reached out to Amtrak about a month ago to set up travel arrangements for wheelchair users going to a meeting in Bloomington this week. The group was told it would be charged 25-thousand dollars for the normally 16-dollar ride to reconfigure a train car to meet their needs. Amtrak later reached out to the group after the quote became public and said it could accommodate up to five people for the upcoming trip and won’t charge the 25-thousand. Duckworth is a disability advocate who lost both of her legs in the Iraq War, and tweeted yesterday that Amtrak needs to “do better moving forward.” She has requested a meeting with the company’s CEO to discuss changing its policy regarding rail car configuration for wheelchair customers.