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The Southwest Chief is a daily long-distance Superliner train that travels between Chicago, IL, and Los Angeles, CA, with 32 intermediate stops. From end to end, it takes around forty-three hours to travel 2,265 miles through Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

This train offers coach and sleeper accommodations, traditional dining, a Sightseer Lounge with a cafe on the car’s lower level, and a great way to see the Southwest and Midwest.

This train does not offer WiFi and smoking and vaping are prohibited.

This article will explain the above and the Southwest Chief’s timetable or schedule.

A brief look at what you can see while on the Southwest Chief

From start to finish, you can travel on the Southwest Chief for three days and two nights, passing through eight states. Most of this route follows tracks owned by Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

The scenery includes fields, ranches, missions, pueblos, mountains, deserts, and the Painted Desert and the Red Cliffs of Sedona. You will journey through winding canyon passages only a few feet wider than the train!

As most of the route remains unchanged, you’ll experience some of the same views passengers enjoyed during the old Santa Fe Super Chief route.

The map can provide details about the areas you will see during the day and the locations you will pass through at night based on your direction.

The Amtrak Southwest Chief’s on-time performance

No one likes delays, but they happen, and not all are Amtrak’s fault. Amtrak uses tracks owned by freight and passenger railroads, and these railroads cause delays.

• The Southwest Chief’s on-time average performance per passenger is:
  • For July 2024, 22.5% with an average delay of 158 minutes.
  • The year average from July 2023 to 2024 is 34.0%, with an average delay of 119 minutes.

Here are the top two causes of delays to the Southwest Chief due to host railroads of 15 miles or more

• BNSF
  • 2206 miles
  • The leading two causes of delays by this railroad are freight train interference and slow order delays.
• NMDOT
  • 60 miles
  • This railroad’s leading causes of delays include commuter/passenger train interference.

This section contains information from the Amtrak Host Railroad Report – July 2024. If you plan to connect with other Amtrak long-distance trains, you can view a complete list of their on-time performances.

Coach class seating on the Southwest Chief

The Southwest Chief coach seating offers:

• Comfortable reclining seats
• Foot and leg rest
• ample legroom
• Fold-down tray
• Individual reading lights
• 120v ground (USA three-prong) electric outlets on the wall.
• Showers are not available for coach passengers.
• Those traveling overnight, bring a pillow and blanket.
• Most coach cars offer upper and lower seating
• Restrooms are on the lower level.

The Southwest Chief coach car layout

Sleeper Car (Rooms)

All rooms include:

• Fresh linens and towels
• Traditional Dining
• Lounge access in Chicago and Los Angeles
• Dedicated car attendant
• Curtains are on both sides to block out light and provide privacy.
• There is a table in the room between the chairs
• There are room lights, plus reading and night lights.

The room types are available on the Southwest Chief.

• Roomette
• Bedroom
• Family bedroom
• Accessible room

Southwest Chief sleeper car layout

Luggage on the Southwest Chief.

Avoid surprises on your day of travel by knowing what you can and cannot take aboard the Southwest Chief.

Accessibility on the Southwest Chief

You can enjoy this train in a few ways for those with mobility issues. When boarding or exiting the train, there is a Wheelchair Ramp onboard the train that staff can pull out as needed.

Regarding accommodations, there is lower-level seating in coach and an accessible bedroom.

If you have mobility or other issues requiring assistance, please let Amtrak know when booking. There is a box to check on Amtrak.com and the app, or you can call Amtrak.

There are several unstaffed stations along this route with no station staff to help, but these are often small. Some agents can help you to the best of their ability at staffed stations.

If you need a service or comfort animal, read Amtrak’s service animal policy before booking to ensure your animal qualifies and see if additional reservations are required.

Southwest Chief Add-ons

You can add a few paid services to your trip aboard this train; make sure

Wi-Fi on the Southwest Chief

This train does not have Wi-Fi, and you will find cell service dead spots along the route, so plan accordingly.

Amtrak does not have at-seat entertainment, but you can do a few things for entertainment on Amtrak.

Food offerings on the Southwest Chief

The cafe is on the lower level of the Sightseer Lounge, featuring various meals, snacks, and beverages for sale, and it is available for all customers from early morning until late at night. This car is found between the coach and the dining cars.

Traditional dining is chef-prepared meals with table service, selections for kids, and a wide array of wine, beer, and spirits. Sleeping passengers can ask the sleeper car attendant to bring their meals to their rooms or get reservations to eat in the dining car.

The meals are complimentary for customers with sleeping accommodations or at set prices for coach passengers. Amtrak can limit seating for coach passengers based on availability.

Scheduled dining car meals served on the Southwest Chief.

For both legs of your journey, dinner will be your first meal aboard this train. Please refer to the table below for the dinner options in the Southwest Chief dining car.

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Amtrak Southwest Chief Schedule

The information below comes from Amtrak.com, but remember that they can change anytime.

Abbreviations

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.

B = Stations with Amtrak Connecting Services.

Printable Amtrak Southwest Chief Schedule

If interested, you can print route and custom schedules from Amtrak.com. Check out this post on printing Amtrak schedules.