Hiawatha (Amtrak)
Hiawatha is the name of a train route operated by Amtrak on the shores of Lake Michigan. As of 2004, fourteen trains (seven round-trips) run daily between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, making intermediate stops in Glenview, Illinois and Sturtevant, Wisconsin. The line is partially supported by funds from the state governments of Wisconsin and Illinois. It is one of the most heavily-used routes in the entire Amtrak system, aside from rail lines on the United States East Coast and in California, and the train has the best on-time service record of any in the Amtrak system. A one-way trip takes about 90 minutes.
Historical service
Historically, the trains were operated by the Milwaukee Road and traveled from Chicago to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The first Hiawatha trains ran in 1935. By 1945, there were actually three routes carrying the Hiawatha name: the main Twin Cities Hiawatha route to Minnesota, a Route of the North Woods Hiawatha spur route off that from New Lisbon, Wisconsin to Minocqua, Wisconsin, and a separate Route of the Midwest Hiawatha line westward across Illinois and Iowa to Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Omaha, Nebraska (the line split into two parts in Manilla, Iowa). The Twin Cities Hiawatha ran twice daily in each direction, with morning and afternoon trains. In 1947, the Olympian line from Chicago to the Pacific Northwest was renamed the Olympian Hiawatha. Up until 1970, the tail vehicle on Hiawatha trains was an observation car known as a Skytop Lounge.
Shortly after Amtrak took over the route, the main service was extended past the Twin Cities. From June 5, 1971 until October 1, 1979, there was a service known as North Coast Hiawatha that ran out to Seattle, Washington. For the first few months, it followed much of the same route as the (formerly Great Northern Railroad) Empire Builder, but later largely had its own route between the Twin Cities and Spokane, Washington. The Chicago–Seattle line ran three times weekly, and the Chicago–Twin Cities Hiawatha route ran once a day.
Early on, the Hiawatha trains were pulled by steam locomotives, though the trains were by no means slow. In fact, these vehicles were some of the fastest steam engines ever built, with schedule times on some routes requiring speeds of well over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). Some believe that these trains may have broken the official steam locomotive speed record set by the Mallard, as the trains were said to exceed 120 mph (193 km/h) on a regular basis.
Future service
Some have advocated that the current Amtrak line be extended to Madison—or even all the way back to the Twin Cities—and converted to high-speed rail. However, this remains an unlikely possibility for the foreseeable future.
A project to connect the line to Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport began in 2004 and is expected to be complete by the end of the year. The station will serve passengers transferring to and from airliners and rail-only travelers as well.
See also
