Cardinal or Texas Eagle

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

CardinalTexas Eagle
EndpointsChicago Union Station to New York Moynihan Train Hall at Penn StationChicago Union Station to San Antonio
Duration, end to end27 h 33 m32 h 36 m
Frequency3 days a weekDaily
Trains50 eastbound, 51 westbound21 southbound, 22 northbound
Named stretches with a cited source68
ShowsBig rivers, Mountains, National parks, Big citiesBig rivers, Mountains, Big cities, Prairie
Headline stretchNew River GorgeMississippi River at St. Louis
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.southbound: daylight Apr to Aug; dusk Sep; dark Oct to Feb; dusk Mar, 6:57 p.m.; northbound: daylight, 8:33 a.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