City of New Orleans or Hiawatha Service

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

City of New OrleansHiawatha Service
EndpointsNew Orleans Union Passenger Terminal to Chicago Union StationChicago Union Station to Milwaukee
Duration, end to end19 h 30 m1 h 29 m
FrequencyDailyDaily
Trains58 northbound, 59 southbound337 northbound, 338 southbound
Named stretches with a cited source63
ShowsBig rivers, Big cities, Gulf coast, Prairie, WildlifeBig cities
Headline stretchLake Pontchartrain and the bayouMilwaukee and a glimpse of Lake Michigan
Headline stretch in daylightnorthbound: daylight, 2:18 p.m.; southbound: daylight, 2:59 p.m.northbound: daylight Feb to Oct; dusk Nov to Jan, 4:36 p.m.; southbound: daylight, 3:04 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 City of New Orleans reaches them. Transfer times are not checked.

Route pages