Rantoul, IL (RTL)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2011

$74,287

Station Ridership

FY 2011

4,808

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

Although the brick station building still stands at Rantoul, Amtrak passengers use the shelter on a platform nearby; the building belongs to the village of Rantoul. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, improvements to the Rantoul station will include a new wheelchair lift and enclosure, new pad for the lift, sidewalk to the platform, and a new sidewalk and curb cut from the parking area to the platform to improve access to the new accessible parking stalls. The estimated cost of the project is $54,000.

The first settlers in the area of fertile prairie that would be come Rantoul came in 1849 to Mink Grove, a stand of trees just west of what would become the center of town. Settlements were sparse until 1855, when the Illinois Central Railroad (IC) line came through. The town’s name was changed from Mink Grove to Rantoul at that time, in honor of Robert Rantoul, director of the IC.

Chanute Air Force Base, part of the Air Training Command, was opened in 1917 as Rantoul Air Field due to its proximity to the IC and the War Department’s ground school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Renamed Chanute after World War II, the base dominated the local economy for decades. The air base closed in 1993, but was partially reoccupied by the Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum and the Rantoul National Aviation Center.
The village of Rantoul is still small and largely rural; however major employers in the area include C.I. Telecom, Bell Racing; Combed Laboratories, Microfilm Services and AT&T. Its proximity to Champaign also means the village serves for some as a suburb of Urbana/Champaign, about 15 minutes to the south.

A large facility for showing horses and other expositions is located nearby at Grayville. Local ranchers also raise reindeer, originally shipped by air from Alaska: the reindeer did indeed fly.

Amtrak does not provide ticketing or baggage services at this facility. Rantoul is served by four daily trains.