City of New Orleans 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

City of New OrleansLincoln Service Missouri River Runner
EndpointsNew Orleans Union Passenger Terminal to Chicago Union StationKansas City to Chicago Union Station
Duration, end to end19 h 30 m11 h 20 m
FrequencyDailyDaily
Trains58 northbound, 59 southbound318 eastbound, 319 westbound
Named stretches with a cited source69
ShowsBig rivers, Big cities, Gulf coast, Prairie, WildlifeBig rivers, Big cities, Wildlife, Wine country
Headline stretchLake Pontchartrain and the bayouMissouri River bluffs at Jefferson City
Headline stretch in daylightnorthbound: daylight, 2:18 p.m.; southbound: daylight, 2:59 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 City of New Orleans reaches them. Transfer times are not checked.

Route pages