Amtrak’s Southwest Chief, which is scheduled to leave Galesburg everyday at 11:54 a.m. and arrive in Chicago at 2:50 p.m. is on time only about 40% of the time, according to a report released by Amtrak in March.
This makes it the third worst of Amtrak’s fifteen long distance train routes. Only the California Zephyr (Emeryville, California to Chicago) and the Sunset Limited (Los Angeles to New Orleans) have worse track records.
Three trains a day depart Galesburg for Chicago. The ride is about three hours and tends to be a relatively inexpensive means to travel to the city. Many Knox students and Galesburg residents ride the train regularly.
The state-supported Amtrak trains, the Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg are treated as one route by Amtrak arrive as scheduled 80% of the time. This is the national average for Amtrak trains.
The Southwest Chief’s delays often leave passengers waiting in Galesburg Station for hours at a time.
Train delays can be caused by a multitude of factors and are sorted into three categories by the company.
Amtrak itself takes responsibility for equipment problems or delays related to passenger loading and unloading.
In other cases, railway owners are deemed to be responsible. This includes freight train interference or instructions to slow down the train.
Amtrak classifies everything else as a third-party delay, including such things as weather and police action.
The Southwest Chief, commonly known as ‘the noon train’ in Galesburg, starts in Los Angeles. Galesburg is one of the last stops on its 42-hour ride – that leaves a lot of time for something to delay the trip.
More than half of the delays to the Chief are caused by the host railroad. Most of them are related to freight train interference, but orders to slow down progress are also common.
Amtrak takes responsibility for delays that are passenger related, crew related, technical problems, as well as a few other causes. These factors cause the delays 25% of the time.
The Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sanburg are both state-supported Amtrak trains. They run the same route to and from Quincy and Chicago and back at various times of the day. The full ride is a little under four and a half hours.
The Zephyr is scheduled to leave Galesburg at 7:37 a.m. and arrive in Chicago at 10:30 a.m. At 5:30 p.m. it leaves Chicago to arrive back at Galesburg at 7:00 p.m.
The Sandburg runs starts from Chicago at 7:40 a.m. and arriving in Galesburg at 10:20 a.m. It leaves Galesburg again at 8:36 p.m. and arrives in Chicago at 10:00 p.m.
Like the Chief, most delays on this route are the responsibility of the host railroad.
