Amtrak Substituting Buses for Trains on Hiawatha, Other Routes

An Amtrak Hiawatha train with Horizon coaches approaching downtown Milwaukee. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The next time you book a train to Chicago, you might find yourself riding a bus.

Last Wednesday, Amtrak announced it had to pull much of the fleet used on the Hiawatha line out of service.

“In compliance with federal requirements and its ongoing commitment to safety, Amtrak routinely inspects its railcars and locomotives. We discovered corrosion in several Horizon railcars and, while working with the manufacturer, decided to remove the equipment from service after learning of additional areas of concern from intensive inspections of multiple cars,” said the railroad in a statement.

The news also immediately impacted the nearly year-old Borealis line between the Twin Cities, Milwaukee and Chicago. A handful of other routes across the country were also impacted.

Of the six-daily roundtrips on the Hiawatha, two are currently being substituted by buses. The Borealis is temporarily using bi-level Superliner cars, the same equipment used on the cross-country Empire Builder route that the Borealis line overlays.

The single-level Horizon passenger railcars, now out of service, were built for Amtrak by Bombardier between 1988 and 1990. Until 2023, they were the primary coaches used on the Hiawatha.

In 2023, Amtrak began using new Venture passenger cars made by Siemens on some of the Hiawatha trips. But issues with a multi-state order have slowed delivery of more Venture cars into the Midwest pool, which Wisconsin initially opted out of, and delayed a Wisconsin Department of Transportation order for equipment it would own outright.

Amtrak has yet to announce a plan to return the Horizon cars to service. A spokesperson said the railroad is working to restore service “as soon as possible.” The removal included taking 70 cars out of service.

The issue has more acutely impacted the longer Cascades line in the Pacific Northwest. The only non-Horizon trainsets the line has are two Milwaukee-made Talgo trainsets, but one was already sidelined while repairs to a cab car must be made following a collision with a downed tree. To restore some level of regular train service, Amtrak has pulled 1970s and early 1980s Amfleet coaches from the Northeast and attached them to Empire Builder trains running through Milwaukee to deliver them to Portland and Seattle.

In December, fiscal year 2024 ridership statistics showed that Wisconsin passenger rail trips climbed by 17% for the year.