Borealis or Lake Shore Limited

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

BorealisLake Shore Limited
EndpointsChicago Union Station to St. Paul-MinneapolisChicago Union Station to Boston
Duration, end to end7 h 31 m22 h 2 m
FrequencyDailyDaily
Trains1333 westbound, 1340 eastbound448 eastbound, 449 westbound
Named stretches with a cited source75
ShowsBig rivers, Big cities, WildlifeMountains, Big rivers, Big cities, Wildlife
Headline stretchUpper Mississippi RiverThe Berkshires and the Westfield River
Headline stretch in daylightwestbound: daylight Mar to Oct; dark Nov to Jan; dusk Feb, 5:26 p.m.; eastbound: daylight, 1:03 p.m.eastbound: daylight Mar to Oct; dark Nov to Dec; dusk Jan to Feb, 5:09 p.m.; westbound: daylight Jan to Oct; dusk Nov to Dec, 4:04 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 Borealis reaches them. Transfer times are not checked.

Route pages