Amtrak Midwest

Amtrak Midwest is a brand name applied by Amtrak to its state-supported routes in the Midwest states of Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri.^[1] As of May 2024^[update], Amtrak Midwest consists of eleven named trains:

• Borealis
• Hiawatha
• Illinois Service: Lincoln Service, Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, and Illini and Saluki
• Michigan Services: Blue Water, Wolverine, and Pere Marquette
• Missouri River Runner

Amtrak Midwest
St. Louis-bound Lincoln Service train passes the CTA's 35th/Archer station in Chicago, Illinois
Overview
Locale	Midwestern United States
Transit type	Inter-city rail
Number of lines	11
Website	Amtrak Midwest
Operation
Operator(s)	Amtrak
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The routes generally form a hub-and-spoke network around Chicago Union Station, with all trains terminating there except for one Missouri River Runner round trip.

Other routes in development include the Quad Cities and Northern Lights Express.

Operations

Services

v t e Amtrak Midwest
Legend
Empire Builder Pontiac Wolverine Troy Saint Paul Borealis Royal Oak Red Wing Detroit Winona Dearborn Minnesota Wisconsin Ann Arbor La Crosse Jackson Tomah Albion Wisconsin Dells Port Huron Blue Water Portage Lapeer Columbus Flint Durand Milwaukee Hiawatha East Lansing Milwaukee Airport Battle Creek Sturtevant Kalamazoo Wisconsin Illinois Dowagiac Glenview Niles New Buffalo Grand Rapids Pere Marquette Holland Bangor St. Joseph Michigan Indiana Floridian & Lake Shore Limited Hammond–Whiting Indiana Illinois Chicago Cardinal LaGrange Road Naperville Homewood Plano Kankakee Mendota Gilman Princeton Rantoul Champaign–Urbana 2025 Geneseo Mattoon 2025 Moline Quad Cities Effingham Extension to Iowa City Centralia Kewanee Du Quoin Galesburg Carbondale Illini and Saluki California Zephyr Macomb City of New Orleans Quincy Illinois Zephyr Summit & Carl Sandburg   Joliet Illinois Missouri Dwight Pontiac Kansas City Missouri River Runner Normal Independence Lincoln Lee's Summit Springfield Warrensburg Carlinville Sedalia Alton Jefferson City Illinois Missouri Hermann Washington St. Louis Lincoln Service & Kirkwood Missouri River Runner   Southwest Chief Texas Eagle
Services
Amtrak Midwest Long-distance Amtrak routes

As of May 2023^[update], Amtrak Midwest consists of eleven named trains operating in ten service patterns. The Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg share identical routes, as do the Illini and Saluki. The Lincoln Service and Missouri River Runner operate separately except for one daily round trip (trains 318 and 319) in which they are combined.^[2] There are 22 Amtrak Midwest round trips each weekday, with the Hiawatha running slightly different frequencies on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.^[3]

Route	Terminus	Via	Terminus	Weekday round trips	Supporting states
					MN	WI	IL	MI	MO
Borealis	St. Paul	Milwaukee	Chicago	1	●	●	●
Hiawatha	Milwaukee	Glenview		6		●	●
Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg	Quincy	Galesburg		2			●
Illini and Saluki	Carbondale	Champaign–Urbana		2			●
Wolverine	Pontiac	Detroit		3				●
Blue Water	Port Huron	Flint		1				●
Pere Marquette	Grand Rapids	Holland		1				●
Lincoln Service	St. Louis	Springfield		3			●
Lincoln Service / Missouri River Runner	Kansas City	St. Louis		1			●		●
Missouri River Runner	Kansas City	Jefferson City	St. Louis	1					●
Total				22

Indiana is not part of Amtrak Midwest as the state does not sponsor any Amtrak routes, although two Wolverine trips stop at Hammond–Whiting station. Indiana discontinued its only state-supported train, the Hoosier State, in 2019.

State-supported service in the Midwest is supplemented by a number of long-distance Amtrak routes, such as the Empire Builder, California Zephyr and City of New Orleans. These are federally-funded, have separate equipment, and do not fall under the Amtrak Midwest brand.

Rolling stock

Amtrak Midwest routes generally share a pool of rolling stock, though certain equipment is exclusive to certain routes. In 2017, 33 Siemens Charger locomotives were delivered for Amtrak Midwest.^[4] Siemens Venture coaches debuted in 2022, and will continue to be deployed in the coming years.^[5][6]

History

The Amtrak Midwest logo and brand were unveiled in 2017 alongside the debut of Siemens Charger locomotives on the Hiawatha.^[7]

Partial restoration of Amtrak's Black Hawk between Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, was funded in 2019 and would have been part of the Amtrak Midwest network.^[8] In 2023, Metra was chosen as the operator instead of Amtrak. Metra service is expected to start in 2027.^[9] Restoration of the full Black Hawk beyond Rockford to Dubuque, Iowa, has yet to be determined.

Future

Amtrak Midwest is slated for expansion in the coming years, with several new routes and frequencies in various stages of development. In December 2023, the Federal Railroad Administration accepted a number of Midwest routes into its Corridor Identification and Development Program. Each route in the program is granted $500,000 for service studies and is prioritized for future federal funding.^[10][11]

Planned and proposed services

Route	Terminus	Via	Terminus	Weekday round trips	Corridor ID Program	Status
Quad Cities	Moline	Naperville	Chicago	2[12]	●	Service is funded and expected to start in 2027.
Prairie Marksman successor	Peoria	Joliet		5	●	Feasibility study complete.[13][14]
Hiawatha extension	Green Bay	Milwaukee		3[15]	●	Planning phase
Varsity successor	Madison	Milwaukee		4[16]	●	Planning phase
		Janesville		TBD		Proposed, unfunded
Twin Cities 400 successor	Saint Paul	Eau Claire		2[17]	●	Planning phase
Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg extension	Hannibal	Quincy		2	●	Planning phase
Kentucky Cardinal	Louisville	Indianapolis		4[18]		Unfunded
Cardinal supplement	Cincinnati	Indianapolis		4[18]		Unfunded
Indianapolis–Chicago trunk	Indianapolis	Lafayette		8 (combined)[18]	●	Planning phase
Twin Zephyr successor	Saint Paul	Naperville		TBD		Proposed
Cleveland-Chicago trunk	Cleveland	Elkhart		TBD		Proposed, would supplement the Lake Shore Limited.
Northern Lights Express	Minneapolis	Superior	Duluth	4	●	Local funding met, awaiting federal funding.
Alexandrian successor	Fargo	St. Cloud	Saint Paul	1		Feasibility study is funded. Would supplement the Empire Builder.[19]
Wolverine extension	Detroit	Chicago	Milwaukee	TBD		Proposed
Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg - Hiawatha combined	Quincy	Chicago	Milwaukee	TBD		Proposed
Total				31

Additional frequencies

Route	New weekday round trips	Corridor ID Program	Status
Hiawatha	3	●	Planning phase
Borealis	1	●
Wolverine	3	●
Blue Water	1	●
Pere Marquette	2	●
Lincoln Service	1	●
Illini and Saluki	1	●
Total	12

See also

• Chicago Hub Network