St. Paul to Dearborn--no longer a one day trip?

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taking the cars

taking the cars

Train Attendant
AU Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2008
Messages
44
Location
Chelsea, Michigan
Tonight I tried to make reservations using the AMTRAK web site and by speaking human being (ticket agent) for a trip from Dearborn, Michigan to St. Paul, Minnesota (change trains in Chicago) and a return trip five days later. The reservation was not possible due to the chance of a late Empire Builder arrival in Chicago on the return segment (St. Paul-Chicago) in order to make a connection with the last eastbound Wolverine of the day. The itinerary now requires an overnight stay in Chicago (for which AMTRAK was not offering any reimbursement) and taking the first Wolverine out the next morning. My wife have made this trip several times a year (the last one in late November 2013). We know that winter trips usually mean one eastbound segment will be by bus due to weather, freight and fracking traffic in North Dakota and/or equipment problems.

I was told to try agian at the end of May as the situation might be re-evalulated. If it is not, I think this will put an end to the most relaxing way for us to get to St. Paul.

Since most of the problems seem to be west of St. Paul, and how about running a short (three or four car) "express" train from St. Paul every other day with a few less stops in Wisconsin? How about changing the Wolverine departure to an hour later. This might be possible with improved travel time on that route (which is expected soon)?

It is a heck of way to run a railroad just when my wife and I have the means and time to take more railroad trips.
 
Complicated reasons, most of which are not the fault of Amtrak. They have been known to run a bus some of the time from St. Paul if the eastbound train is very late, but they, I believe, only run a short train if the Empire Builder is annulled west of St. Paul. If you have followed this situation over the past year, then you should be aware of the mess that has been created out of what had been a pretty reliable operation. This is not likely to improve very much soon, so unfortunately, if you are not happy with this, then you are best advised to seek other means of travel.
 
Yes, the current situation is a mess.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has been talking about running a separate train from St. Paul to Chicago in order to deal with delays. I suggest you write a letter to them explaining:

- that you used to take the train from Dearborn to St. Paul

- that you cannot do so any more due to the delays

- that you would do so again if there was a train which ran only from St. Paul to Chicago

State governments often seem to care about tourism income.

You could also write to Michigan DOT suggesting a later depature for the last Wolverine of the day.

The choice of what short routes to run is no longer under Amtrak's control; Amtrak is required by law to get state government support for these routes. This is why I advise that you write to the state governments.
 
Neroden has some good information, but it does not solve the problem in the short term. What you could do is take your chances and book this journey as two separate tickets. ( St. Paul-Chicago, Chicago-Dearborn .) This would not be a guaranteed connection, so if the Michigan train pulled out and a bus was not provided, then you would be on your own overnight. I don't blame Amtrak at all for not guaranteeing this connection, after they had been paying out umpteen thousands of dollars for hotel rooms. Mr. Boardman is supposed to be visiting North Dakota this week. Let's see if anything positive comes out of this....don't hold your breath. Speaking of hotels, download the app " Hotel Tonight " which Sarah Z mentioned and that I have researched. While I have not booked anything on it yet, this could be a lifesaver.
 
Taking the cars, overnighting in Chicago could be an adventure that you and your wife would enjoy. You could leave Michigan early in the day and visit the Field Museum in the afternoon. Have dinner and stay overnight, catching the Empire Builder to St. Paul the next day.

http://fieldmuseum.org
 
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Your discussing the opposite direction:

I guess as a backup if you don't mind taking a bus if you miss the last Wolverine of the day:

Quickly consulting bus timetables:

MegaBus has a 10:20pm Lv. Chicago Ar. 6:00am Detroit trip (unforchunately no Dearborn Service)

Greyhound has a Lv. Chicago 12:01am Ar. Detroit 6:20am trip.
 
CP Rail is also doing track work between in WI and the train has been loseing time due to this work, I also think that the reason that a MSP-CHI train is not being run is due to no equipment to run this train.
 
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