Hello Reader,

Welcome to this week’s travel news! This week, we will discuss temporary changes to two trains and the on-time performance of Amtrak’s long-distance trains in August.

Service Updates for the Lake Shore Limited and City of New Orleans

If you plan to travel on the Lake Shore Limited or the City of New Orleans before October 31, 2024, please log into your Amtrak account to see if these temporary schedules or service changes affect your trip. If you have further questions or want to make changes, contact Amtrak.

If you have a trip booked on one of these trains, log into your Amtrak account for the most up-to-date ticket information.

Lake Shore Limited (Chicago to New York/Boston)

For those who travel on the Lake Shore Limited Between Chicago and New York, trains 48 and 49 do not affect your trip.

However, if your trip starts or ends on the Albany to Boston section (trains 448/449), there may be a bus connection on certain days due to infrastructure improvement work.

Not all days have a bus; check out this page to see if you will ride the bus or train.

City of New Orleans (Chicago to New Orleans)

Track updates by Canadian National (CN) are affecting the City of New Orleans’s schedule. Unlike Lake Shore Limited, there is no bus transfer for this journey. However, the departure time was shifted one hour earlier, with all intermediate stops adjusted by one hour.

Be sure to review the updated schedule and plan your trip accordingly. In most cases, you will leave Chicago at 7:05 instead of 8:05 pm and New Orleans at 12:45 pm instead of 1:45 pm. So you may have to get your muffalettas to go and eat them on the train!

Here is Amtrak’s up-to-date schedule news on the City of New Orleans.

Long-Distance Train Performace Page Updated

Amtrak has released the latest on-time performance numbers, and looking at it, the numbers show some overall improvements across the board. I was able to update my performance page right away for you.

The California Zephyr and Empire Builder saw much-needed improvements, while the City of New Orleans, the only train to reach the 80% on-time goal in July, slightly decreased, dropping to 78% on-time for July 2024. However, it still holds the best record.

If you want to check out the number, check the updated page.

What Kev Has Been Up To!

It has been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon. Wait, that is someone else’s line, and I am in Wisconsin, not Minnesota.

I booked another trip this week, but unfortunately, it’s not by rail. If you’ve been following me for a while, you might know that my parents have become snowbirds. They have spent the holidays with my sister and her family for several years. When she lived in Nebraska, I would drive them out or put them on the train. Now that she lives in Florida, I fly down there with them. At this point, they do not feel comfortable flying on their own. I don’t mind if we can compromise on a time that works for everyone.

You may recall that a few weeks ago, I booked a trip to fly my mom down for Halloween, and she will stay there until after the rest of the 2024 holidays. This week, I booked the trip to take my dad down so they would be together with the rest of my family. My dad’s journey involves a train, specifically Chicago’s Metra, and when I fly back, the CTA and Metra will be there again. I try to ride the rails when I can.

In the next few weeks, I will be flying in and out of the three major airports in my area: Milwaukee Gen Mitchell, Chicago’s O’Hare, and Midway.

Interestingly, all three airports have at least one rail connection. Both Chicago airports have the CTA rapid transit rail line, the “L.” Additionally, O’Hare has a Metra Commuter line, and in Milwaukee, Amtrak stops at the airport.

Bringing this email to a close

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I am truly grateful for all of you who are part of this adventure!

Happy planning and safe travels!

Kev Monteith

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