Because this train made no connections with other trains at either New Orleans or Chicago, Amtrak moved the train to an overnight schedule on November 14, 1971, and renamed it the "Panama Limited". In February 1981, Amtrak restored the "City of New Orleans" name while retaining the overnight schedule; Amtrak hoped to capitalize on the popularity of the song written by Steve Goodman and recorded in 1972 by Arlo Guthrie. A Kansas City section, the "River Cities," began operation on April 29, 1984. It separated from the "City of New Orleans" at Centralia, Illinois (later Carbondale) and ran to Kansas City via St. Louis. This section ended on November 4, 1994. The northbound "City of New Orleans" began stopping at Gilman, Illinois, on October 26, 1986. Gilman had last seen service in 1971; the "Illini" stopped there as well. Service to Cairo, Illinois, south of Carbondale, ended on October 25, 1987. Amtrak operated the "City of New Orleans" reliably through the 1980s and into the 1990s; in 1992, the "City of New Orleans" had the highest on-time performance rate of all Amtrak services at 87%. Nevertheless, on-board service had declined; "Trains" magazine editor J. David Ingles called the train "Amtrak's least-glamorous long-distance train". On March 3, 1994, new Superliner cars replaced the single-level cars. Real dining service returned; by the early 1990s an Amfleet dinette had doubled with the lounge car. On September 10, 1995, the train was rerouted between Memphis and Jackson due to the Illinois Central's desire to abandon the original route (the Grenada District) in favor of the newer and flatter Yazoo District. Five towns in the Mississippi Delta lost service–Batesville, Grenada; Winona; Durant and Canton. On March 15, 1999, the "City of New Orleans" collided with a flatbed semi-trailer near Bourbonnais. Of the 217 people aboard the train, eleven people were killed in the Bourbonnais train accident. The fourth car, where the fatalities occurred, was engulfed in flames following the collision at the crossing. Because of damage in Mississippi and Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina, Amtrak was forced in late August 2005 to truncate the "City of New Orleans" at Memphis, Tennessee. Service was first restored as far south as Hammond, Louisiana, and on October 8, 2005, Amtrak resumed service to New Orleans.