Cardinal or Lincoln Service Missouri River Runner

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

CardinalLincoln Service Missouri River Runner
EndpointsChicago Union Station to New York Moynihan Train Hall at Penn StationKansas City to Chicago Union Station
Duration, end to end27 h 33 m11 h 20 m
Frequency3 days a weekDaily
Trains50 eastbound, 51 westbound318 eastbound, 319 westbound
Named stretches with a cited source69
ShowsBig rivers, Mountains, National parks, Big citiesBig rivers, Big cities, Wildlife, Wine country
Headline stretchNew River GorgeMissouri River bluffs at Jefferson City
Headline stretch in daylighteastbound: daylight, 9:56 a.m.; westbound: daylight May to Aug; dusk Sep; dark Oct to Feb; dusk Mar to Apr, 7:38 p.m.eastbound: daylight, 12:12 p.m.; westbound: daylight Feb to Oct; dusk Nov to Jan, 5:10 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 Cardinal reaches them. Transfer times are not checked.

Route pages