Carbondale's multimodal station on pace to open in or near October 2024

CARBONDALE, IL (WSIL) -- Carbondale's multimodal station could open sooner than expected.

The multimodal station is a transportation hub that will serve 30 counties in Southern Illinois.

Carbondale's Economic Development Director says the construction for the station is on track to meet or beat its projected opening date in 2024. Initially city leaders expected construction to last in 2025.

Now they say with the extra help of the contractors construction is moving along smoothly.

"We're moving a lot of dirt, pouring a lot of pylons and that sort of thing and we really expect this project on or near October of 2024," says Steven Mitchell, Carbondale's Economic Development Director. "We really anticipate this changing the complexity of downtown significantly and we really anticipate it to bring a lot more foot traffic downtown and we're really excited about the possibilities."

The new station will cost $23 million. Once it's finished the city will tear down the current Amtrak station which was built in 1970.