Southwest Chief - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Southwest Chief

Amtrak's Southwest Chief at Devil's Throne in New Mexico
Overview
Service type	Long-distance higher speed rail
Status	Operating
Locale	Midwestern and Southwestern United States
Predecessor	Super Chief, El Capitan
First service	1974
Current operator(s)	Amtrak
Ridership	1,006 daily 367,267 total (FY15)[1]
Route
Start	Chicago, Illinois
Stops	31
End	Los Angeles, California
Distance travelled	2,265 mi (3,645 km)
Average journey time	43 hours, 15 minutes
Service frequency	Daily each way
Train number(s)	3 (Chicago to Los Angeles) Westbound 4 (Los Angeles to Chicago) Eastbound
On-board services
Class(es)	Coach Sleeper
Seating arrangements	Airline-style coach seating
Sleeping arrangements	Superliner Roomette (2 beds) Family Bedroom (4 beds) Superliner Bedroom (2 beds) Superliner Bedroom Suite (4 beds) Superliner Accessible Bedroom (2 beds)
Catering facilities	Dining car On-board café
Observation facilities	Sightseer Lounge Car
Baggage facilities	Checked baggage (select stations)
Technical
Rolling stock	P42 locomotives Superliner cars
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed	90 mph (145 km/h) maximum 55 mph (89 km/h) average (including stops)
Track owner(s)	BNSF Railway
Route map Template:Southwest Chief

The Southwest Chief (formerly the Southwest Limited and Super Chief) is a passenger train operated by Amtrak. It is on a 2,265-mile (3,645 km) route that goes through the Midwestern and Southwestern United States. It goes between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California, going through Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

During fiscal year 2018, the Southwest Chief carried 331,239 passengers. This was 8.8 percent less than it was from FY 2017.^[2] The route grossed $43,184,176 in revenue during FY 2018. This was 3.8 percent less than it was from FY 2017.^[3] Amtrak had plans for replacing the route between Albuquerque, New Mexico and Dodge City, Kansas with bus service. As of October 2018, these plans were canceled.

History[change | change source]

Accidents and incidents[change | change source]

• On October 2, 1979, the Southwest Limited derailed (went off the rails) at Lawrence, Kansas. Of the 30 crew and 147 passengers on board, two people were killed and 69 were injured. The cause was too much speed on a curve. Other causes included an engineer that was not familiar with the route, and that a sign that said to slow down had been removed during track repairs.^[4]

References[change | change source]