Hi.
DH and I will be traveling from Detroit to downtown Chicago at the end of August with our sons age 10 & 12. We're debating on taking the train rather than driving. (Cost of tickets for the 4 of us is about a wash with the cost of parking and we don't expect to need our car while in Chicago.)

DH is reluctant to take Amtrak due to a bad experience many years ago (very long delays, malfunctioning toilet on board, etc.). I am sitting on the fence...The convenience of being dropped-off at Union Station and not having to fight downtown traffic is appealing.

Does anyone have recent experience with Amtrak, or better yet, from Detroit to Chicago?
What are the trains like?

Thanks in advance!

Haven't been on the Chicago Detroit route, but just this week took Amtrak traveling out of NYC to Baltimore & can recommend it. This was our first time on Amtrak in 10+ years. Overall it was fine. Our thinking was similar to yours, we didn't want the hassle of driving in an unfamiliar city and wouldn't need the car once there. The train was clean and we were delighted to find there is dedicated Quiet Car where cell phones are not allowed. All other cars do allow cells if that's important to you, but we loved the peace & quiet and found the trip relaxing and enjoyable. Bathrooms were clean and there are one or two for each car. Plenty of room for luggage, comfortable seats. The train had a food car with snacks such a pizza, chips, sandwiches, not sure if that's true on all routes but the food isn't great and for the return we picked something up at a restaurant to carry on to the train. Given the hassle flying has become, we are thinking of looking at more trips on Amtrak in the future.

A friend travels this route quite often, most recently about a month ago and had fine trips both ways. She leaves fromn the Dearborn station, however. Is someone driving you to the train station or are you leaving your car? I don't know whether I would leave my car for the weekend at the Detroit station. There is also a train that leaves from Pontiac, but maybe others can chime in about the station there. The Dearborn station is right next to the police station on Michigan Ave.

The last time we went, we opted to take the South Shore into Chicago from the South Bend Airport. It comes right into the airport terminal and goes all the way to Milennium Park (with other stops). It's $11 for adults and $5.50 for kids each way, though one child under 13 rides free with each adult if you are travelling on off peak hours or weekends. The website has all of the details. Parking in the economy section of the airport is $8 per day. We opted for the South Shore because we found the schedule a little more flexible than Amtrak's. We figured if we ended up wanting to stay a few hours extra on our last day, we had other train options. We stayed at the Hilton near Grant Park so getting off at the Van Buren station put us about 1 block from the hotel.

I took Amtrak from Ann Arbor (and back) in March. I found the trip to be very pleasant and comfortable. No delays, other going into siding to let an eastbound train pass. Bathroom was clean and functional. Sure beats the hassle of sitting in traffic.

k

Took the Amtrak from Kalamazoo to Chicago with DDIL and Granddaughter..it was very relaxing and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. I have heard that there is a direct bus that goes also..which is what brought me here. I am looking for that info. Went by tour bus in June from Detroit to Chicago. It was awesome!

check out megabus...