St. Louis to Chicago on Amtrak

Traveling between St. Louis and Chicago? Amtrak is an inexpensive option that doesn’t involve a road trip or airports. Train travel time is about five hours, only 30 minutes longer than driving. In comparison, a flight is about one hour.

Here’s what you need to know about traveling between St. Louis and Chicago by train.

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Routes

There are multiple trains that travel between St. Louis and Chicago every day. You can book tickets on the Lincoln Service or Texas Eagle. The Texas Eagle is a long-distance route that has roomettes and bedrooms if you want private accommodations. If you plan to sit in coach, Lincoln Service is the better option, and business class seating is available for extra legroom and fully-refundable tickets before departure.

Schedules

As of 2023, there are early morning, afternoon and early evening train departures to Chicago from St. Louis. For current schedules, visit Amtrak.com and use the Find Trains feature on the homepage (allow a few seconds for it to load). If you don’t know your travel date, just pick any future day — schedules are usually the same each day. Note that you can return same day to Chicago if you depart St. Louis on one of the morning trains.

WiFi

Lincoln Service trains have free WiFi, although video streaming is discouraged as this slows down the internet speed for the entire train. On the Texas Eagle, you’ll need to use a hotspot device or your phone for internet (no WiFi).

St. Louis Train Station

Amtrak trains depart from the Gateway Transportation Center in downtown St. Louis (view map). Long-term and hourly parking is available. Click on the transportation center link above to get more information. Metrolink trains on the red line also stop at the nearby Civic Center Station as a way to get to the Amtrak station, or consider a Lyft or Uber ride.

Chicago Train Station

Amtrak trains arrive at Chicago’s Union Station, which is next to the Chicago River in the West Loop (view map). You can easily walk to the Loop, get a taxi or rideshare car, plus water taxis depart nearby in warmer months and travel to Michigan Avenue and Chinatown.