Late Night Hiawatha Service to Continue Indefinitely

Amtrak’s experiment with late-night Hiawatha Service between Chicago and Milwaukee will continue indefinitely, thanks to its success so far.

The experiment began on May 21 with the addition of one late-night train each way, a 10:40 p.m. departure from Milwaukee’s Intermodal Station and an 11:10 p.m. departing from Chicago Union Station. In September, Amtrak announced that until further notice, these Saturday night trains are replacing the early-morning trains, which continue to operate on weekdays – the 6:10 a.m. departure from Chicago and the 6:15 a.m. departure from Milwaukee.

Amtrak has arranged for a Thruway Bus Service at 6 a.m. between Milwaukee and Chicago to provide an early morning departure option on Saturdays.

The late Saturday trains have shown higher ridership during the trial period than the early morning trains they replaced, Amtrak said in a news release.

As of October 15, Amtrak has introduced weekday peak/off-peak pricing on Hiawatha Service, too. With seven round-trip frequencies a day (6 on Sunday), base fares now are $27 instead of $25 for northbound trains departing Chicago at 3:15 and 5:08 p.m., and southbound trains departing Milwaukee at 6:15 and 8:05 a.m. All other weekday and all weekend trains are considered “off-peak.”

For schedules and fare information, visit Amtrak's Hiawatha Service page.

Hiawatha Service trains, running between Milwaukee and Chicago, are jointly sponsored by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the Illinois Department of Transportation. The route is the most heavily traveled among the nine state-supported regional routes in the Midwest. During Fiscal Year 2016, Hiawatha trains carried 807,720 passengers – 39 percent more than the 580,333 who rode the route in Fiscal Year 2006.

With intermediate stops at Glenview, Ill., and at Sturtevant, Wis. and Milwaukee’s General Mitchell Airport, the service is one of the top six Amtrak routes nationally. 

Since ticket windows are closed in the late evening, advance e-ticket purchases through Amtrak.com, the Amtrak Mobile App, or at station Quik-Trak® kiosks (except Glenview) are encouraged, but passengers can also be ticketed on board without penalty.