Before the Amtrak era, the City of New Orleans and its nighttime companion, the Panama Limited, had operated St. Louis sections that split in Carbondale.

Amtrak ended the service on November 4, 1993, as part of national cost-cutting measures, and instituted Amtrak Thruway service between St. Louis and Centralia, Illinois (since extended to Carbondale).

[1][2] In June 2021, Senator Jon Tester of Montana added an amendment to the Surface Transportation Investment Act of 2021 which would require the Department of Transportation (not Amtrak itself) to evaluate the restoration of discontinued long-distance routes such as the River Cities.

[3] The bill passed the Senate Commerce Committee with bipartisan support,[4][5] and was later rolled into President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal,[6] which has since been passed by Congress as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

[7] Media related to River Cities (train) at Wikimedia Commons