SWC connection to CL in CHI

[Guest]

I am planning a trip from Los Angeles to Washington DC on the SWC connecting to the CL in Chicago. I looked at the Amtrak train status history for the last 4 weeks of history and I see that SWC # 4 has not arrived on time in the last 4 weeks and has an average delay of 134 minutes. The longest delay being 469 minutes. The scheduled arrival is 3:15pm and the scheduled departure of CL is 6:10pm. My question is when the SWC is late, does the CL wait for connecting passengers or do you get put on the next day's train. If it waits, how long does it wait, 1hr, 2hrs, 469 minutes etc? I do have everything on one reservation so it should be guarenteed. It is a Amtrak Guest Rewards points ticket if that makes a difference.

Thanks

 

[the_traveler]

Being an AGR reward ticket has no bearing on the situation. You are treated just like any other passenger!

The connection is guaranteed, so it is Amtrak's responsibility to get you to your destination. Depending on how many are transferring, they may

• Hold the train, if within a reasonable time
• Bus the connecting passengers beyond Chicago to "catch up" to the CL
• Put you up in a hotel (on Amtrak's dime) and send you out the next day

In your case, there is also a 4th option (since you are going to WAS)

• You could be booked on the LSL to connect to WAS at NYP. (There is a later evening departure in CHI for the LSL and a later evening departure at NYP for WAS.)

 

[guest]

Thank you very much for your reply. I do now understand all the options. What I am looking for an answer if anyone knows, during the last month, when the SWC arrived in CHI later than the CL departure time over 50% of the time, what choice did Amtrak usually choose? Did they normally hold the CL or not? Thank you.

 

[Stellar1]

I just had a connection from the SWC to the CL. Took the SWC from Flagstaff on the morning of Aug 14th. The

train was about an hour late into Flagstaff. We lost some more time and we were supposed to arrive in Chicago

at 3:10 PM on Monday, August 14th. We were late and didn't arrive until about 6:25 PM. On the train they told

us they would put us up for the night in a Chicago hotel, but once we got off the SWC train in Chicago, they

had Amtrak personnel there directing us to the waiting CL (#30). The held the CL and

we didn't depart until 6:45 PM that day (Mon - 8/14), which was 35 minutes late.

We got into Washington about an hour late, no bustitution.