JEFFERSON CITY - More than 2,800 names have been entered in the "Name the Train" contest sponsored by Amtrak® and the Missouri Department of Transportation, but there is still plenty of time to join the contest and perhaps make history for suggesting the new brand name for the St. Louis to Kansas City passenger rail service.
The contest is being hosted on MoDOT's recently updated Passenger Rails Web site, http://www.morail.org/, which also contains a new YouTube video produced by the department to promote the contest.
People of any age can still submit their favorite name through Wednesday, Dec. 10. Contest entries may be submitted online at http://www.morail.org/; mailed to MoDOT, Name the Train Contest, P.O. Box 270, Jefferson City, MO 65102; or hand-delivered to any MoDOT district office (locations at modot.org). Contest rules are also posted on the contest Web site.
Contest judges will select five of those names as finalists. Then, between Dec. 16, 2008 and Jan. 16, 2009, voting will be conducted online or by mail, indicating your name, address and favorite finalist name. The new name will be announced by January 30, 2009.
The contest is open to anyone, but you must be a Missouri resident to win a prize. Five finalists will receive two round-trip coach tickets to any Amtrak destination in Missouri and a gift basket from one of five participating cities located on passenger rail line. The grand-prize winner will receive two round-trip sleeping car tickets to any Amtrak destination in the U.S.
The contest celebrates 30 years of state-supported passenger rail service between St. Louis and Kansas City and rail infrastructure improvements slated for the Spring that are expected to improve the timeliness of the service.
Amtrak runs two round trips daily. The trains carry tens of thousands of passengers a year with stops in St. Louis, Kirkwood, Washington, Hermann, Jefferson City, Sedalia, Warrensburg, Lee's Summit, Independence and Kansas City.
For more information about the contest or to submit a name suggestion for the passenger train service, go to http://www.morail.org/.
Editor's note: Audio clips are available in the MoDOT Newsroom.
