California Zephyr or Wolverine

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

California ZephyrWolverine
EndpointsChicago Union Station to EmeryvilleChicago Union Station to Pontiac
Duration, end to end52 h 57 m6 h 26 m
FrequencyDaily5 days a week
Trains5 westbound, 6 eastbound350 eastbound, 355 westbound
Named stretches with a cited source144
ShowsBig rivers, Mountains, Desert and canyon, Snow, Big citiesBig cities
Headline stretchFront Range and Moffat TunnelIndiana Dunes
Headline stretch in daylightwestbound: daylight, 9:47 a.m.; eastbound: daylight Feb to Oct; dusk Nov to Jan, 4:57 p.m.eastbound: daylight Feb to Nov; dawn Dec to Jan, 7:36 a.m.; westbound: dark, 9:27 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 California Zephyr reaches them. Transfer times are not checked.

Route pages