Classic route
Borealis
Chicago → Saint Paul · United States
Amtrak’s May 2024 daytime run up the Mississippi from Chicago through Milwaukee and Wisconsin’s river bluffs to the Twin Cities.
- Distance
- 668 km
- Fastest time
- 7 h 30 min
- Average speed
- 89 km/h
- Top speed
- 127 km/h
Stations
- 0 kmChicago Union Station +14
- 28 kmGlenview +3
- 102 kmSturtevant +1
- 127 kmMilwaukee Airport +1
- 138 kmMilwaukee +3
- 242 kmColumbus +2
- 287 kmPortage +2
- 314 kmWisconsin Dells +2
- 386 kmTomah +2
- 452 kmLa Crosse +2
- 495 kmWinona +2
- 595 kmRed Wing +2
- 659 kmSaint Paul Union Depot +2
The stations OpenStreetMap lists for this service, in order, with the distance along the line as drawn here. A train may skip some of them. A +N after a station: N other routes on this map stop or end there, and the map draws it as a station where lines meet.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 17547209: the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 5 m from it
- Checked against the running timetable via Amtrak: our line sits under 100 m from the shape of the Borealis to Chicago
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the Borealis?
The Borealis runs 668 km from Chicago to Saint Paul.
How long does the Borealis take?
The fastest scheduled journey is 7 h 30 min for the 668 km. That is an average of 89 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 127 km/h.
Who runs the Borealis?
Amtrak, with Amfleet coaches, Siemens Charger diesel.
How old is the Borealis?
The line has been in service since 2024. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
More classic routes
- LNER Azuma
The Flying Scotsman’s route since 1862, and where Mallard set the never-beaten steam record of 203 km/h in 1938.
Wikipedia ↗ - Alfa Pendular
A tilting Pendolino leaning through the curves of the 19th-century Linha do Norte between Portugal’s two great cities.
Wikipedia ↗ - EIP Pendolino
Rides Poland’s 1970s Central Main Line (CMK), engineered decades ahead of its time and now being upgraded to 250 km/h.
Wikipedia ↗ - Railjet
Follows the old Orient Express alignment down the Danube plain: centre to centre faster than any flight.
Wikipedia ↗
More train routes in United States.