Southwest Chief
The line has also had a significant impact for Amtrak. Prior to the building of the connector, the "Southwest Chief" operated on the Chillicothe Subdivision to Galesburg, via Joliet, Streator and Chillicothe. The building of the connector enabled the "Southwest Chief" to be rerouted onto the BNSF's Mendota Subdivision, used by the "California Zephyr" and a couple of short-distance inter-city Amtrak trains via Naperville, Mendota and Princeton. "Southwest Chief" service to Streator and Chillicothe was dropped as part of the realignment, although Joliet continues to see Amtrak service from other trains. The rerouting of the "Southwest Chief" enabled passenger service to also operate through one station in Galesburg instead of two, and the station building along the former Santa Fe line was demolished.