Amtrak CHI > Blue line > ORD tight schedule: nuts or not?
 

My husband wanted as few legs as possible for our June flight to LHR from STL, so we ended up deciding to take the train to Chicago then fly from there. When I made the reservations I thought there was plenty of time, but now realize our Amtrak train doesn't get to Union Station until 1220, and then our flight from Terminal 2 is scheduled to leave at 1555.

Blue line train took ~ an hour last time I did this. Our Amtrak train originates in St. Louis, so far less likely to be late than the one out of LA, but I have a memory of sitting on sidetrack at Joliet and watching freight trains roll by.. Any idea how to determine on-time rates for a given train?

Would we be better off renting a car for the first leg?

Personally I would drive as I "have" to be at the airport ahead of time and not rushing but that is just me.

I would not rely on Amtrak to get you to CHI on time! We happen to have Amtrak service in our town, and the trains are very often late, sometimes by hours!

I agree with NOT relying on any truly on-time Amtrak performance UNLESS it is in the Northeast corridor where Amtrak actually controls the tracks.

Scratching a little deeper, I see that the amtrak.com site can give you ontime statistics for a given train. The Lincoln Service, #302, boasts a whopping 53.9% on time record most recently. Mostly caused by "train interference" which -- guessing - means letting the Union Pacific cars muscle their way past first?

So does "on time" mean within say 10 min? and after that the sky's the limit and it doesn't matter?

Thanks, all of you. I was afraid of that.

You need to change plans and don't do this again. For international flights, you're supposed to be at the airport 3 hours in advance. This is functional. Not for you, for the airlines. All international flights require bag-matching. That's ensuring that you and your stuff are on the same bird. Even if you were "on-time" you would be late to the airport because the L would get you there at 1:30 for a 4 pm flight.

And unless we port the Tokaido shinkansen from Osaka-Tokyo to St. Louis-Chicago, I wouldn't count on a timely trip.

Thanks. Our bags will be matched by being carried in our hands until placed into overhead bins, though.

Did you already buy the Amtrak tickets? Are they refundable?

With the near certainty of a delay on the tracks I'd take a bus from St. Louis to Chicago or drive. It looks like Megabus and Greyhound would both get you into Chicago earlier than the train is scheduled to arrive. If you drive, you'd have the one-way rental but for a one day trip it isn't that pricey.

If you're locked into Amtrak, hope for the best and take a cab if you are late instead of the blue line.

If I'm taking Amtrak to Washington and flying out I never plan to arrive the day the plane leaves!

If you want the least amount of transfers of conveyance, the obvious answer is to fly into O'Hare from St. Louis. Anything else will entail additional - and timely - maneuvering.

One-way drop off fees can be quite expensive.

I think I have it figured out ish. Really appreciate everyone's feedback.

Good points, WAE. Do you think a cab would be faster than Blue Line? I'd have thought not. One way car rental would have been $185, and I was surprised to find the cheapest flights STL - ORD would have been $440 for us two.

thurs, and exiled, thank you. Also good to know.

My husband has some kind of thing with his ears/eustachian tubes where takeoff and landing are problematic, and he's sometimes miserable for weeks afterwards. (Guaranteed suffering for his long-suffering spouse, too, of course.) So we need as few flight legs as possible.

He nixed the bus option, also. Last year he took Megabus up to Chicago for a jazz weekend, and one bus before his scheduled return hit an underpass with unpleasant results for a lot of people. After a long time when everyone stood at the pickup spot, waiting, finally calling, Megabus told them: your bus is cancelled, goodbye. He ended up having to spend another night there, able to snatch a morning Amtrak ticket home. Now he feels unsafe just thinking about riding up high on a bus. (If you think too much about any transportation method besides walking, you get phobic.)

One very nice thing about Amtrak is you can change tickets or get credit if you do it early enough. For no extra charge I was able to trade for the 300 Lincoln Service leaving 2+ hours earlier, which should be reasonably all right, when combined with trip insurance. Good to get up early anyway and prep for GMT.

I do think a cab would be quicker at that time of day. You should not run into any significant traffic going from Union Station to O'Hare in the middle of the day, and you won't be stopping every so often like that train.

For sake of comparison, right now google maps shows the drive time from Union Station to O'Hare as 23 minutes. And it is currently 12:28pm on a Tuesday, the same time of day you would be on the road in June. I think it's safe to conclude the cab will be quicker....the only caveat is to check on road construction or closures closer to your trip date.

Good to know, WAW. Thanks!

There also can be construction issues along the blue line route. I had to take a bus for a portion of my ride from downtown to Ohare. It slowed me down by 15 minutes, at least. Take a cab! It's not cheap, but it will get you there quickly as long as it's not during rush hour.

$220pp for one way to ORD from STL??? There must be something wrong.

I did a quick search and see non-stop flights for less than $110 pp (some being via American and United), as long as you are checking at a reasonable length of time in the future (it's not last minute travel). However, I understand you don't want to pursue that route.

IMHO, you are making a **big** mistake by just allowing an additional 2 hours. I personally wouldn't do it unless the ETA is scheduled at least 6 hours ahead of my check-in time at ORD, since this is an international flight. Not the flight time - the check-in time.

I agree with exiledprincess. I would plan to arrive the day before.

Thanks, simpson. Any idea what a cab for 2 plus two bags costs, roughly, Union Station to ORD?

Thank you, exiled and thurs. I appreciate all of your time and educated input.

PS: thanks, princess. Obviously you're right. $220 each seemed > twice what I expected one way.

Taxi roughly $50. Are you still planning to rely on Amtrak to get you to CHI on time? Just curious....