Train 3 cancelled 4/7...what to do?

Brent · Mar 31, 2018

Hello. I ride the Southwest Chief once per year out to California. Got a message yesterday that the train was canceled (train 3) between Chicago and Kansas City on 4/7. BNSF bridge work or something. Im trying to figure out what I should do. Is the bus that bad? Should I leave a day earlier or later? Any suggestions are appreciated.

ParanoidAndroid · Mar 31, 2018

If you don't like the bus, you could ride the Lincoln Service, the 9:25am departure from Chicago (arrives St. Louis 3:00pm) and transfer to Missouri River Runner 4:00pm from St. Louis, which arrives Kansas City at 9:40pm. Southwest Chief leaves KCY at 10:45pm.

I think there's only a café car on both of those trains, so it might be hard to have a proper dinner if you were expecting that.

the_traveler · Mar 31, 2018

And if you are worried about the 1 hour connection time, I believe it uses the same equipment on both trains. Thus. If you don’t arrive on time, the other train can not depart.

Trogdor · Mar 31, 2018

the_traveler said:
And if you are worried about the 1 hour connection time, I believe it uses the same equipment on both trains. Thus. If you don’t arrive on time, the other train can not depart.

I don't know the current status of those trains (Lincoln Service & River Runner), but a few years ago they didn't use the same equipment. The Lincoln Service typically ran longer consists than the River Runner, and the Missouri equipment stayed pretty much captive to STL-KCY except when they needed to rotate equipment up to Chicago for inspections and maintenance. The equipment turns that I remember were 301 - 304 and 303 - 306, with 314 turning to 313 pretty much every day.

Palmetto · Mar 31, 2018

I'd leave a day earlier if there were no penalty and space available.

Lonestar648 · Mar 31, 2018

What options did Amtrak give when they said the train was canceled? Are they using an Amtrak bus bridge or re-scheduling for the next day or another way, like through STL?

Brent · Mar 31, 2018

They gave me the option to take a 9 hour bus ride from Chicago to Kansas City. After thinking about it I opted to go the next day. Fortunately I had some flexibility and the fare was the same.