Blue Water or Carl Sandburg

The two routes share one station, Chicago Union Station. The table lists what each shows and how long each takes; the route pages carry the full stretch tables.

Side by side

Blue WaterCarl Sandburg
EndpointsChicago Union Station to Port HuronChicago Union Station to Quincy
Duration, end to end6 h 31 m4 h 22 m
Frequency5 days a weekDaily
Trains364 eastbound, 365 westbound381 westbound, 382 eastbound
Named stretches with a cited source33
ShowsBig citiesBig cities
Headline stretchIndiana DunesSouth Branch of the Chicago River
Headline stretch in daylighteastbound: daylight Feb to Oct; dusk Nov to Jan, 4:34 p.m.; westbound: daylight, 11:04 a.m.westbound: daylight, 7:49 a.m.; eastbound: dark, 9:41 p.m.

Duration, frequency, and daylight are computed from the Amtrak GTFS timetable (fetched 2026-10-15) for the representative trip in each direction; daylight is the phrase for the headline stretch, the highlighted row of each route page. Named stretches are counted from the cited route guides. How these are computed.

Stations both routes serve

Chicago Union Station

In the order the Blue Water reaches them. Transfer times are not checked.

Route pages