Amtrak
If you're going to make a day trip via Amtrak, like from Chicago to Springfield, go ahead and spend a little extra money to ride business class. If you're boarding at a terminal station like Union Station, you get to board early with the physically handicapped, the elderly, and pregnant mothers or mothers with very small children; you get a fee newspaper; a comfortable seat; one free drink in th bar; and gaurenteed luggage space for one bag. Getting one free drink is good because the food and drinks are overpriced and the quality of the food is comparable with what one would find in a gas station. On my way from Chicago to Springfield, there was overhead storage space for my bag that was missing on the train when I made the return trip, but the second train at electric outlets, which allowed me to recharge my cell phone.