Amtrak

I was not a passenger on the Amtrak (Amtrak is your government passenger rail service). When I look at the train stations in Japan and look at ours it is rather embarrassing. I took pictures so people in other countries that read my reviews can get an understanding of our rail system vs theirs. One of the huge differences is scale. Our country is just so darn big and it would take me 3 days to travel from ST. Louis to California. Or fly for 4 hours. So you can see why rail is not popular.
I also wanted to take pictures of what is inside our train stations vs what other countries have. As we have minimal facilities and no big shopping inside the station nor outside the station. Just a railyard as our trains haul cargo and not many passengers.
One note I was taking pictures inside for my review and a guard came up to me and told me to stop taking pictures. I complied because I was finished and St. Louis jail is not cool. LOL

For those of you who have traveled internationally, when you hear «train service,» you may imagine swift and speedy service such as the Euro Rail or some rails in Asia. Some may imagine worse forms such as rails in poorer areas of the world.
Well, although Amtrak is in a first world country it is somewhere in the middle as far as overall experience. It’s always packed, at least on my ride to and from Chicago from St. Louis, and media says that train ridership is up which should be providing funds to better the service. However, you’d never know it because it takes the same, long 5.5 hours to get from St Louis to Chicago (the same time to drive) as it has for years. They always have places where «special fast tracks» lie, but you would never know it. They have terrible communication, because last minute, the train will have to stop for some reason or another. Don’t expect to arrive on time! The cars are fairly old.
Honestly, in some ways, the buses are faster & I opt for those of weather permits-​and you will more often have Wifi on buses, as not all trains have it. You won’t have a café car on the bus, but honesty, the food is so $$ and processed on Amtrak that I bring mine anyway. I just hope they get with the 2K one day and invest money to better service for the many passengers who expect and deserve it.

Worst service ever. I mean the worst. Do yourself a favor, drive to where ever you need to go. You will get there three times faster. 4 hour service turned into a 12 hour trip. Don’t do it, you will not save money. You have been warned.

WhooWhoo, the free Exhibit Train museum is AWESOME.
Over ten cars long and on display Saturday & Sundays from 11:00am-3:30pm… this in-​train museum is fUHreee! Yes, as free as Will Ferrell streaking in the quad.
Not only did the kidlets really enjoy seeing a train up close and going inside walking from car to car and moving all the conductor parts, wheels, and blowing the horns — but adults can enjoy learning the history of the railways and seeing all of the vintage posters (rad!).
I also learned of the Missouri River Runner train that goes from here to Kansas City in about 5 hours, and in Kansas City there’s another children’s train museum. So maybe, just maybe we’ll take our first scenic train ride just for fun.
Parking is at the Union Station lot for a few bucks. WHOOWHOO!

Just started riding the train RT between STL and CHI and have found it to be my new favorite way to travel. I love that I don’t have to go thru TSA, ticket lines, etc. Make plans online plus they have an APP, short term and long term parking nearby, and walk to terminal in under 2 minutes. I have rarely had to share a seat and have ridden 6 times in the past 30 days. There are 2 outlets in every row making it convenient to plug in phone or laptop and WIFI worked every time all the time. Lots of rm for luggage overhead and easily accessible all the time. Big bathrooms, dining café (eat beforehand as its just not healthy food), or I bring my own food aboard which is no problem. The seats are spacious and roomy, plenty of leg and elbow room, big windows for plenty of natural lighting. One time we were late 30 minutes arriving, otherwise, it’s been on time or early.

Notoriously late and infuriating. If you’re looking to get there, you will… it just might be an hour behind schedule.

This review is for the train and organization as a whole, not the St. Louis Station.
For me personally, the train isn’t worth the effort and cost when you can drive and make it to where you need to go faster, have less chance of a delay /​problems with the train or track, or risk a cancellation entirely. This is a personal opinion and not the reason for the 1 star.
I have had several experiences with Amtrak. About 95% of the time the train was late. Additionally, almost each time there are delays while in route. Again for me, it’s not worth it. The last and worst experience I had was a STL to Hermann, 1 day round trip. The outbound was delayed for about 1 hour. When we arrived in Hermann, one conductor told us the last departure back to STL was at 2:45pm (leaving us a little over 1 hour in Hermann). So we checked with a second conductor, he said to be back at the station «eh around 8pm.» That was when we were originally scheduled to leave. Long story short, the train didn’t come at 8pm, it didn’t come at 10pm when we were told to be ready after the 8pm didn’t show. We then found that the 10pm train was CANCELLED entirely. Hermann is about 1.5 hours away from St. Louis. Just far enough to not be able to ask someone to come pick us up at 10pm. A replacement train came after midnight. We had boarded Amtrak that morning at 9:30am and did not get back off in STL until 2:00am. While on the train the conductor made an announcement to call and get a refund for the return trip since the actual train was cancelled.
Over 1 hour of my work day was spent on the phone with Amtrak «customer service» (using this term very loosely) only to be told I could not have a refund. The ticket was cheap; it was a matter of principle. The trip was a disaster, I was highly inconvenienced, I have a dog at home that was left inside for over 15 hours, and so on, all due to Amtrak’s errors and they didn’t even care enough to refund my money — as I was told they would — after I spent an additional hour of my time, AT WORK, on the phone to request said refund.
It’s one thing to have issues with a train, such is life. But to have such disregard for your customers put me over the edge. Take my advice: fly, drive, or MegaBus. You’ll be much better off.

I’m a young guy that wants to support regional and local rail so I try to take Amtrak when I have the time, even though I have the money to fly. I really want to like taking the train, but I consistently have the worst experience with service and Amtrak employees.
The dining cart is always under stocked for food and beverage, which I guess I understand considering that the train is rarely full. What isn’t really understandable is why the employees are either apathetic or rude.
When you fly, flight attendants treat you like a true customer — someone who has paid for a ticket and should be treated in a way that would make them want to buy another ticket. Amtrak employees seem to act like they are doing you a favor — which is giving you a ride that takes three times as long as a flight and costs almost as much.
I’ll still take the train when I can but I’m going to keep posting negative reviews until Amtrak starts to care.

This review is for Amtrak train service, not for the station.
Amtrak is what it is. From my perspective, it is a clean, safe way for Teen and her friends to visit each other without me and the other parents having to drive several hours and spend a ton of money on gas. Ticketing is fairly easy on the website, and you can easily check the status of the train in several different ways. This is important because the trains are often late, and teens aren’t the best communicators. I can check the status on the iphone app, on the website, or I can sign up to receive text messages. For those who need to work on the train, spend the extra bucks on business class. It is quiet and usually child-​free so you can reliably work. That said, it does share a car with the café so if there is a big ball game it may get loud.

Station was very big and they offer free wifi at terminal. Greyhound is also in the same building. Well lit and felt secure the whole time

It’s a decent station which shares the Amtrak and greyhound. It is conveniently located off the highway and near downtown attractions.
Have a problem or question? Simply ask one of the staff. They are all friendly and helpful.

Easy to find from the highway — great signage. It was easy to park, and cheap overnight in a gated lot. Way more organized than Chicago’s Union Station. We printed our tickets and got right into a line that was orderly and easy to follow on our way to the train. The train left on time and everything was great. Splurge on business class — it is worth it! I really loved taking Amtrak and can’t wait to do it again.

Service sucks. I’m lucky to be giving this place two stars. I was FIVE hours late on a recent trip to Chicago. I went up for the extended holiday weekend so I really didn’t have a lot of time to be messing around. Thought the train would be a good idea since it is almost exactly the same time to get up there as driving. Boy was I wrong. We arrived again FIVE hours late which screwed my day up, royally. I wasn’t able to take my kids to the Willis tower Skydeck or the Navy Pier. The didn’t preboard seniors or kids under the age 10 either. It was more like line up, sit on the floor and wait for the mad dash to the train. The train station was small as can be and not that clean. The only thing this place has going for it is the train had a lot of room and the ticket was cheap.

I have taken the Eagle many times back and forth from STL to Chicago, and I have never had any problems. Granted, I have someone drop me off and I know how to get around the Chi by foot very well, so that may have thrown my review a bit. However, I have had staff who have been very helpful in the company’s procedures and they keep me coming back for my hometown trips!

The husband took the train from Chicago to St Louis. The travel time is almost the same as it would be to drive there, 5−½ hours. Better yet, he was able to get a ticket for less than it would have been for gas.
The station stop is conveniently located off ⁶⁴⁄₄₀ near the Scott Trade Center. There is a small, short-​term, pay parking lot I was able to park in while I waited for the train to arrive.
Only drawback, no pets allowed.