Amtrak Hiawatha service passengers holding current monthly and 10-ride tickets now have priority boarding at Chicago Union Station as they travel on the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor, the busiest in the Midwest.
The route, with intermediate stops in Glenview, Ill., and in Wisconsin at Sturtevant and the Milwaukee Airport, carried nearly 839,000 passengers last year, ranking it among the top 10 Amtrak routes nationally. About one-quarter of the trips were made by passengers using multi-ride tickets. Seven roundtrips are operated Monday to Saturday, with six round-trips on Sundays.
Amtrak and Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) representatives rode last month with a group of regular Hiawatha Service passengers who requested priority boarding, among other suggestions that are also under consideration.
Amtrak operates the service under contracts with WisDOT and the Illinois Department of Transportation.