Cardinal (train)

Cardinal

The Cardinal passing through Orange, Virginia in 2021
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail Higher-speed rail (Northeast Corridor only)
Locale	Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern and Southeastern United States
Predecessor	James Whitcomb Riley
First service	October 30, 1977
Current operator(s)	Amtrak
Annual ridership	92,962 (FY24) 12.4%[a][1]
Route
Termini	Chicago, Illinois New York
Stops	36
Distance travelled	1,146 miles (1,844 km)
Average journey time	27 hours, 45 minutes[2]
Service frequency	Three round trips per week
Train number(s)	50/51
On-board services
Class(es)	Coach Class Sleeper Service
Disabled access	All train cars, most stations
Sleeping arrangements	Roomette (2 beds) Bedroom (2 beds) Bedroom Suite (4 beds) Accessible Bedroom (2 beds)
Catering facilities	Café/Dinette (combined car)
Baggage facilities	Overhead racks, checked baggage available at selected stations
Technical
Rolling stock	GE Genesis Siemens ALC-42 Amfleet Viewliner
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed	41 mph (66 km/h) (avg.) 125 mph (201 km/h) (top)
Track owner(s)	AMTK, BB, CN, CSX, METX, NS, UP
Route map Show interactive map Legend Northeast Corridor to Boston South 0mi New York City North River Tunnels under Hudson River NY NJ 10 mi 16 km Newark Penn 58 mi 93 km Trenton NJ PA across Delaware River 91 mi 146 km Philadelphia–30th Street PA DE 116 mi 187 km Wilmington DE MD 185 mi 298 km Baltimore MD DC 225 mi 362 km Washington, D.C. Potomac River DC VA 233 mi 375 km Alexandria 258 mi 415 km Manassas 293 mi 472 km Culpeper 340 mi 547 km Charlottesville 379 mi 610 km Staunton 437 mi 703 km Clifton Forge VA WV 472 mi 760 km White Sulphur Springs 496 mi 798 km Alderson 517 mi 832 km Hinton 540 mi 869 km Prince 551 mi 887 km Thurmond 592 mi 953 km Montgomery 619 mi 996 km Charleston 668 mi 1075 km Huntington Big Sandy River WV KY Tri-State closed 1998 683 mi 1099 km Ashland 712 mi 1146 km South Portsmouth– South Shore 766 mi 1233 km Maysville Ohio River KY OH 828 mi 1333 km Cincinnati 851 mi 1370 km Hamilton closed 2005 pre-1986 route 864 mi 1390 km Oxford OH IN 893 mi 1437 km Connersville 951 mi 1530 km Indianapolis 998 mi 1606 km Crawfordsville 1025 mi 1650 km Lafayette Eastern Time Central Time 1072 mi 1725 km Rensselaer 1118 mi 1799 km Dyer mi mi Richmond Muncie Marion Peru Eastern Time Central Time Gary IN IL 1147 mi 1846 km Chicago Empire Builder, Borealis, and Hiawatha This diagram: view talk edit Show route diagram map

The Cardinal is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York Penn Station and Chicago Union Station via Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Charlottesville, Charleston, Huntington, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis. Along with the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited, it is one of three trains linking the Northeast and Chicago. The 1,146-mile (1,844 km) trip between New York and Chicago is scheduled for 281⁄4 hours.^[3]

The Cardinal has three round trips each week, departing New York City on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and departing Chicago on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Prior to being discontinued in 2019, the Hoosier State provided service on the portion of the Cardinal's route between Indianapolis and Chicago on the other four days of the week.^[3][4]

The Cardinal's ridership was 82,705 in fiscal year 2023, a 3.0% increase from FY2022,^[5] but approximately 25% below its pre-COVID-19 pandemic ridership of about 109,000 in FY2019. In the two fiscal years prior to the pandemic (FY2018 and FY2019), ridership had increased 12.5%.^[6][7][8] In FY2020, the Cardinal earned $7.1 million on expenses of $22.6M—a revenue-to-cost ratio of 31%, the second lowest among all Amtrak routes.^[9]

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