Students have a few options when heading home for winter break.

Eastern has provided its students with a bus service that can take them to and from the Chicago suburbs.

The Bus and Ticket Office, located in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, provides a round-trip ticket for $64.99.

The bus only makes these rounds in the area for the holiday breaks.

Charleston and surrounding towns also provide transportation through the holidays.

Mattoon provides the Amtrak, which is a train that takes students to and from other Amtrak stations, including ones in Chicago and St. Louis, Missouri. This bus station does not have luggage space except the space around passengers. Since the Amtrak is a train service, students would have to find a ride to the station.

SiSi Pascarella, a sophomore communication studies major, said she uses the Amtrak to get home sometimes. She says it is a cozy place and they have Wi-Fi, but trains can sometimes run later than expected.

Dial-A-Ride also runs on normal and holiday schedules. Dial-A-Ride members get a $40 per month pass, or they can pay $.50 for every ride within city limits. However, the bus does go to Champaign and Urbana every Wednesday and Friday for $7 both ways.

Another way students can get home is by commuting with a friend who lives in the same area.

Dalton Davison, a sophomore applied engineering and technology major, rides home every break with a friend.

“You will never have a dull moment in the car, and it adds more memories to the ones you already made with that person. The downside of riding with a friend is that you might not know them as well and feel uncomfortable, but once that barrier is broken, the atmosphere is lighter,” Davison said.

Davison said he recommends riding home with a friend because it will be cheaper than going alone.

Callie Luttman can be reached at 581-2812 or ckluttman@eiu.edu.