CHICAGO — Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner, which was only restored to twice-a-day round trips in July after finding funds to restore full service, is about to be trimmed once again to one daily round trip between St. Louis and Kansas City.
Effective Oct. 24 through Nov. 16, westbound train No. 311 and eastbound No. 316 will be suspended. The westbound train departs St. Louis at 8:15 a.m. and arrives in Kansas City at 1:55 p.m.; the eastbound departs Kansas City at 4:10 p.m. and arrives at St. Louis at 2:20 p.m.
A notice on Amtrak’s website says the suspension is because of “a shortage of available train equipment.”
One daily round trip will remain, with eastbound No. 318, a through train to Chicago, departing Kansas City at 8:40 a.m. and arriving in St. Louis at 2:20 p.m., while westbound No. 319, (a through train from Chicago) is scheduled to depart St. Louis at 3:05 p.m. and arrive in Kansas City at 8:45 p.m.
As the Webster-Kirkwood Times notes in a report on the cuts, this eliminates the possibility of day trips on the route. The newspaper quotes Kirkwood City Council member Liz Gibbons, who was among those who lobbied to restore funding for the second train that she was “sad to report after all the work we’ve done” the train would be cut again because “they don’t have enough people to take care of the trains.”
This is part of a continuing series of cuts to state-supported service in the Midwest because of maintenance personnel shortages. The River Runner will be cut at the same time that currently suspended frequencies of the Chicago-St. Louis Lincoln Service and Chicago-Pontiac, Mich., Wolverine return [see “Amtrak suspensions bring brief relief …,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 19, 2022].
Share this article
