Southwest Chief

The Southwest Chief (formerly the Southwest Limited and Super Chief) is a higher speed passenger train operated by Amtrak on a 2256-mile (3631 km) BNSF route through the Midwestern and Southwestern United States. It runs from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California, passing through Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The Southwest Chief formerly operated on a different alignment from Galesburg to Chicago via Chillicothe, Streator and Joliet, Illinois, until 1996 when it was routed over the California Zephyr route. Another route change took place in early 1994, when the train was re-routed onto the Santa Fe Third District via Fullerton and Riverside when previously it served Pasadena and Pomona via the Santa Fe Pasadena Line, until that route was closed to all through-traffic and subsequently converted to the LACMTA Gold Line light rail system of today.

During fiscal year 2011, the Southwest Chief carried a total over 350,000 passengers, a 3.7% increase from FY 2010. The train had a total of revenue of $44,184,060 during FY 2011, a 6.2% increase from FY 2010.