Pere Marquette 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

Pere MarquetteSouthwest Chief
EndpointsChicago Union Station to Grand Rapids Vernon J. EhlersChicago Union Station to Los Angeles
Duration, end to end4 h 4 m43 h 57 m
FrequencyDailyDaily
Trains370 eastbound, 371 westbound3 westbound, 4 eastbound
Named stretches with a cited source410
ShowsMountains, Desert and canyon, Big rivers
Headline stretchMichigan's west coast at St. JosephRaton Pass
Headline stretch in daylighteastbound: dusk Jun to Jul; dark Aug to May, 9:31 p.m.; westbound: daylight Apr to Aug; dawn Sep to Mar, 7:50 a.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 Pere Marquette reaches them. Transfer times are not checked.

Route pages