Floridian or Southwest Chief

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

FloridianSouthwest Chief
EndpointsMiami to Chicago Union StationChicago Union Station to Los Angeles
Duration, end to end46 h 40 m43 h 57 m
FrequencyDailyDaily
Trains40 northbound, 41 southbound3 westbound, 4 eastbound
Named stretches with a cited source310
ShowsMountains, Big riversMountains, Desert and canyon, Big rivers
Headline stretchPotomac Valley on the B&O lineRaton Pass
Headline stretch in daylightnorthbound: daylight Jan to Oct; dusk Nov to Dec, 4:32 p.m.; southbound: daylight, 12:23 p.m.westbound: daylight, 8:38 a.m.; eastbound: daylight Feb to Oct; dusk Nov to Jan, 4:47 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 Floridian reaches them. Transfer times are not checked.

Route pages