The Amtrak Cardinal travels thrice a week between Chicago, IL, and New York, NY, with 30 intermediate stops, including Washington, DC; Charlottesville, VA; Cincinnati, OH; and Indianapolis, IN.
A quick look at the Amtrak Cardinal
This train has several popular stops, including New York, Washington, Charlottesville, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Chicago.
- This train uses Amtrak Viewliner and Amfleet 2 equipment (single-level).
- This train runs three days a week in each direction.
- From end to end, the train travels 1147 miles.
- The cardinal accommodations include coach class and sleeping accommodations.
- Food on this train
- Cafe car is open to all.
- Amtrak flex dining for sleeper car passengers
- This train has Amtrak Wi-Fi.
- There is no smoking or vaping of any substance aboard any Amtrak trains.
- Checked baggage is allowed between some but not all stops.
- This train is one of Kev’s favorite single-night routes.
- Get the Amtrak Cardinal schedule
The views of the Amtrak Cardinal
The Cardinal offers unforgettable views as you pass through horse country, inclduing the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains, the Shenandoah Valley, and the wild white-water rivers of West Virginia.
As the train heads westward, it travels by the banks of the mighty Ohio River, through the quaint towns of Ashland and Maysville, to the skyline of Cincinnati. From there, your journey continues to Indianapolis and then northward to Chicago.
Who owns the tracks the Cardinal uses?
The Cardinal operates over rails owned by another railroad; here is a list of host railroads that Amtrak uses of 15 or more miles.
The Amtrak Cardinal’s on-time performance
Delays happen regardless of how you travel. While sometimes Amtrak is responsible for delays or acts of God, they are often caused by host railroads.
- The Cardinal’s average station-on-time performance
- From February 2023 to 2024, the Cardinal averaged 55.4% on-time performance with an average delay of 74 minutes.
- For February 2024, the Cardinal averaged a 56.5% average delay of 81 minutes.
- This average does not mean the train is late for all the stops; late trains can make up some time as they travel.
- The main reasons for delays caused by the host railroads of 15 miles or more:
- CSX (703 miles): freight train interference and signal delays
- NS (79 miles): passenger train interference and track work and maintenance delays
- BBRR (132 miles): freight train interference and passenger train interference.
The information for this section comes from the February 2024 Amtrak Host Railroad Report.
Accommodations Offerings for the Amtrak Cardinal
This train offers two sleeping and coach accommodations.
Coach Seating
Amtrak Cardinal offers coach seating in Amfleet 2 cars, which is an economical way to travel, and features:
- Comfortable reclining seats
- With foot and leg rest
- Ample legroom
- Fold-down tray
- Individual reading lights
- 120v electric outlets are on the wall.
- There are two bathrooms in each car.
- There are also places above your seat to store your baggage, or you can use the luggage rack at the end of the car.
Amtrak Cardinal coach car layout
Sleeper Car (Rooms) Accommodations
Learn about the advantages of getting Amtrak sleeping accommodations.
What Cardinal Rooms Include
- Fresh linens and towels
- Complimentary meals
- Lounge access in Chicago, New York, Philidelphia. and Washington DC
- Dedicated car attendant
- Access to showers
- The windows in each car have curtains that block out light and give you privacy.
- These rooms have seats by day and beds by night.
Room Options On Amtrak’s Cardinal
- Roomettes
- Smallest of accommodations
- Suitable for one cozy for two
- Bedroom
- It is about twice the space of a roomette.
- There is a bathroom, sink, and shower in the room.
- Accessible Room
- This accommodation is for passengers with mobility issues.
- There is a bathroom, sink, and shower in the room.
Amtrak Cardinal sleeper car layout
The layout below is of the older Viewliner sleeper, but the new one is similar. This train also uses a dorm baggage car with half roomettes and half baggage. Those cars still have a shower and bathroom.
Bikes, Pets, Wi-Fi, and Luggage
Wi-Fi
This train has free Wi-Fi that supports general web browsing activities.
Learn more about Amtrak Wi-Fi, such as how to log in and the do’s and don’ts.
Pets and service animals
- Amtrak allows dogs and cats
- The max combined weight of the pet and carrier is 20 pounds.
- For trips up to seven hours
- You need to fill out paperwork before you get to the station.
- Learn more about Amtrak’s Pet policy and get the needed paperwork.
If you have a service or comfort animal, ensure you read Amtrak’s service animal policy before booking to make sure your critter qualifies and is appropriately on your reservation.
Carry-on & checked bags on the Cardinal
Not all stations can handle checked baggage. Click the station links below to see if they offer checked baggage service. Your beginning and ending stations must both offer checked bag service.
- Amtrak checked baggage allows:
- Two bags up to 50 lbs.
- Seventy-five linear inches per person for free.
- Charges apply for additional and oversized luggage.
- You are permitted two for free and two extra for a fee.
Each passenger may carry on:
- One personal item, 25 lbs. (12 kg) and 14 x 11 x 7 inches, and
- Two carry-on pieces of luggage, 50 lbs. (23 kg) and 28 x 22 x 14 inches each
- If you transfer to the Pacific Surfliner at some point along your journey, the baggage size for that train is up to 28 x 22 x 11 inches each.
Charges apply for additional and oversized luggage; check out Amtrak’s carry-on bag policy for more information.
Bikes on the Cardinal
- Space is available for standard, full-size bicycles
- Up to 50 lbs, 70 inches x 41 inches x 8.5 inches.
- Amtrak stores bikes in designated bike racks/areas inside the baggage car (if available).
- More information on bringing bikes is here.
Food Offerings On The Amtrak Cardinal
One food car on this train serves double duty; while the cafe is open to all, some choices are only available for sleeper passengers. The cafe has a similar layout to the car below.
- The Amtrak cafe offers:
- A variety of hot and cold meals
- Snacks
- Hot, cold, and adult beverages
- The car is open from early morning until late at night.
- The car may be closed for breaks and sleeper meal times.
- You can find the cafe between the coach cars and the sleeper cars.
You can consume your purchase in this car; coach passengers usually get the side closest to the coach cars.
You can bring food and drink, but Amtrak cannot store or heat your food. Additionally, you cannot consume alcohol you brought onboard unless you are in a sleeper.
Flex dining
Flex dining is a meal system for sleeping car passengers, and at this time, it is unavailable for coach passengers.
- More about Flex Dining:
- These meals are prepared ahead of time and warmed on the train.
- Complimentary dining for sleeping passengers.
- You can eat in private rooms or the cafe car.
- Meals include breakfast selections, while lunch and dinner share the same menu.
- Complimentary non-alcoholic beverages.
- One complimentary adult beverage comes with dinner!
Meals offered to sleeper car passengers
DIRECTION | CITY SECTIONS | DAY OF TRAVEL | MEALS OFFERED |
---|---|---|---|
#50 Westbound | Chicago, IL – Indianapolis, IN | Day 1 Mo, Th, & Sa | Dinner |
Connersville, IN – New York, NY | Day 2 Tu, Fr, & Su | Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner | |
#51 Eastbound | New York, NY – Maysville, KY | Day 1 Su, We, & Fr | Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner |
Cincinnati, OH – Chicago, IL | Day 2 Mo, Th, & Sa | Breakfast |
Amtrak Cardinal Schedule
The Cardinal runs three days a week. This guide was current at the time of publication. Amtrak does change times, and I do my best to keep everything current.
Train 51 Westbound | Communities Served | Miles | Train 50 Eastbound |
---|---|---|---|
Read Down | This train runs three days a week. | – | Last Stop |
6:45a Su-We-Fr | New York, NY Moynihan Train Hall (NYP) | 0 | 10:23p We-Fr-Su |
R 7:05a | Newark, NJ – Penn Station (NWK) | 10 | D 10:03p |
7:42a | Trenton, NJ (TRE) | 58 | D 9:27p |
8:15a | Philadelphia, PA William H. Gray III 30th St. Station (PHL) | 91 | D 8:56p |
8:40a | Wilmington, DE (WIL) | 116 | D 8:30p |
9:28a | Baltimore, MD – Penn Station (BAL) | 185 | D 7:41p |
10:09a | 10:59a | Washington, DC – Union Station (WAS) | 225 | D 6:44p | 7:09p |
11:19a | Alexandria, VA (ALX) | 233 | D 6:27p |
11:52a | Manassas, VA (MSS) | 258 | 5:35p |
12:25p | Culpeper, VA (CLP) | 293 | 5:00p |
1:43p | 1:52p | Charlottesville, VA (CVS) | 340 | 3:35p | 3:44p |
2:54p | Staunton, VA (STA) | 379 | 2:38p |
4:13p | Clifton Forge, VA (CLF) | 437 | 1:09p |
5:05p | White Sulphur Springs, WV (WSS) | 472 | 12:01p |
5:36p | Alderson, WV (ALD) | 496 | 11:18a |
6:06p | Hinton, WV (HIN) | 517 | 10:50a |
6:43p | Prince, WV (PRC) | 540 | 10:18a |
6:59p | Thurmond, WV (THN) | 551 | 9:56a |
7:50p | Montgomery, WV (MNG) | 592 | 9:02a |
8:29p | Charleston, WV (CHW) | 619 | 8:31a |
9:44p | 9:51p | Huntington, WV (HUN) | 668 | 7:19a | 7:26a |
10:14p | Ashland, KY (AKY) | 683 | 6:45a |
10:57p | South Shore, KY Portsmouth, OH (SPM) | 712 | 5:55a |
11:52p Su-We-Fr | Maysville, KY (MAY) | 766 | 5:02a |
1:41a Mo-Th-Sa | Cincinnati, OH Union Terminal (CIN) | 828 | 3:37a |
3:36a | Connersville, IN (COI) | 893 | 1:31a |
5:15a | 6:00a | Indianapolis, IN (IND) | 951 | We-Fr-Su 11:49p | 12:15a Tu-Th-Sa |
6:58a | Crawfordsville, IN (CRF) | 998 | 10:30p |
7:36a | Lafayette, IN – Amtrak Station (LAF) | 1025 | 9:56p |
7:40a | Rensselaer, IN (REN) | 1072 | 7:45p |
8:29a | Dyer, IN (DYE) | 1118 | 6:45p |
10:00a Mo-Th-Sa | Chicago, IL – Union Station (CHI) | 1147 | 5:55p Tu-Th-Sa |
Last Stop | Stations | Miles | Read Up |
- Su- Sunday; Mo-Monday; Tu-Tuesday; We-Wednesday; Th-Thursday; Fr-Friday; Sa-Saturday
- R = Receive passengers only; this means you can board the train, but you cannot buy a ticket on this train to this station.
- D = Depart only; you can buy a ticket to this station but not from this station. The train may leave early from this stop.
- * = Stations with Amtrak Connecting Services.
Printable Amtrak Cardinal Schedule
You can print out the PDF below or download them to your device. This document is longer because it includes most connection services, so feel free to print just what you need.
You can also print route or customs schedules from Amtrak! Learn how to print your own Amtrak schedule.
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Thanks for this.
You are welcome!
Safe Travels,
Kev
Thanks especially for this timetable, Kev. Last spring, I mentioned to my wife that an Amtrak Cardinal T-shirt would be a nice Father’s Day gift. When my wife saw a picture of it, she wanted one too, so we bought two. Living in Alexandria, Virginia, at the time, I thought that a day trip on the Cardinal would be fun. I had done it some years before with a friend. I tried searching the booking thingy on the Amtrak website by train numbers, stations, range of dates, and found nothing. I couldn’t tell whether the train was even running. Since then we have moved to Pennsylvania, but maybe we will take a long ride later this year.
You are welcome, Steve! The Cardinal is still going, but three times a week. I hope you ride it again; it is one of my favorite trains.
You are on the right page because the Cardinal is the only train leaving Huntington, WV (three times a week), and you can view the schedule.
You could take it to Chicago or up the East Coast. One idea is to take it to Chicago and the Capitol Limited that day and then stay somewhere on the East Coast before taking the Cardinal back home. It could take some clever booking, but it is possible!
Happy planning and safe travels,
Kev