(Radio Iowa) – About half the Iowa delegates at this week’s Democratic National Convention made the trip to Chicago aboard Amtrak. Gregory Christensen, vice chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, is temporarily being called “the conductor” by his colleagues because it was his idea.

Since they bought the tickets together and got a group rate, the cost of one ticket is about what it costs to park a vehicle in Chicago for a single day.

The infrastructure bill Biden signed into law in 2021 is providing millions to upgrade Amtrak, which Biden used to commute between D.C. and Delaware when he was a U-S Senator. Christensen also notes the Iowa Democrats rode the California Zephyr and the line starts at San Francisco Bay.

A couple of Iowa Democrats in western Iowa boarded the California Zephyr in Omaha. Others got aboard at stations in Osceola, Ottumwa and Mount Pleasant. Christensen says they had some strategy sessions and phone time during the trip.

Christensen says he helped one Iowan re-register to vote. The person had been purged from the rolls because they hadn’t voted in recent elections. The Democratic National Convention is being staged at the United Center in Chicago, the same venue used when Bill Clinton and Al Gore were renominated in 1996.