This year has been a great one for Amtrak. The company has launched the old MARDI Gras and Nextgen Railroad services. In addition, The new Amtrak -recently announced the expansion of the newly launched MARDI Gras serviceAdd 60 seats on certain days when New Orleans Saints play.
Today, the company is ready for other expansion that will surely be positively welcomed by all football fans.
According to the Missouri Transport Department, the new Amtrak has announced it will add the third train to its route linking St Louis and Kansas City, the Missouri River runner. Here is a deep dive to learn more about this upcoming expansion.
Amtrak extends Missouri River Runner
The new Missouri Transport Department has announced that it will add the third car to the popular Missouri River Runner route. The choice is made because of the City of St. Louis was set to host several 2026 World Cup matches on July 2026.
Therefore, Amtrak expects drastic increase in passengers for a limited time, which is why it decides to add additional trains to the service. St Louis will host six World Cup games and a 32 -game round on July 3. But this is not all. The city will also host the quarterfinals on July 11.
This led the Missouri Transport Department to request a $ 1.7 million general income to increase the additional travel of the River River runner for July. Additional services are now set up in April and are fully operational in June. The third train is only available for passengers for a limited time, and the Missouri River runner will then offer two regular services when the World Cup ends.
What’s Runner River Missouri?
The Missouri River Runner is an amtrak route that connects Kansas City to St. Louis. The train stopped at eight stations along the way: independence, Lee Summit, Warrensburg, Sedalia, Jefferson City, Harmann, Washington, and Kirkwood.
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Main information Runner Missouri River Amtrak |
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|---|---|
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Stop |
10 |
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Riders in 2024 |
187,750 |
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Increased passengers compared to 2023 |
22.6% |
The trip usually lasts for five hours and forty minutes, and the train is equipped with free cafes and WiFi services. In 2024, Missouri runners welcomed 187,750 passengers, an increase of 22.6% from 2023, when 153,183 Amtrak customers used this route.
Some Amtrak passengers and football fans are positively welcoming the news. Extra daily train between Kansas City and St. Louis may allow hundreds of extra football fans to watch important matches without just relying on their cars for travel.
Some users share their joys about additional trains at Reddit Post Discuss the news. However, some expressed disappointment as the route was set to return to its usual daily trips when the World Cup ended. In this case, ordinary users write:
Bummer that they only run it temporarily for the World Cup. It’s easy to succeed enough that they consider it permanently running it. I think the “express” path, just STL-Jeff-KC, will do great.
Unfortunately, for now, the plan is to choose an additional third service only temporarily. It is still unclear whether this will be a permanent change if the train is always full.
Another user, Kaleidoscopesimple11, insists that, unfortunately, the game has no place near the Amtrak station. Users write, ‘Too bad all games will not be near train access. Exit the arrowhead sucking and shame on stage around the world. ‘
Unfortunately, there seems to be no easy way to reach the stadium from the station right now. This means that when they arrive at the station, Amtrak fans need to find a way to reach their own stadium. In this regard, other users insist that ‘travel sharing after the game is impossible,’ leaving visitors without much choice.
Simple, the Missouri Transport Department will soon provide solutions for many football fans planning to use this Amtrak service by 2026.