CAPITOL LIMITED (AMTRAK)

Amtrak's '''Capitol Limited''' is one of the two routes connecting Washington, DC to Chicago, running 764 miles (1230 km) via Cleveland, Ohio (the other is the ''Cardinal'' via Cincinnati). It was begun in 1981, and was named after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's ''Capitol Limited'', ended in 1971 with the formation of Amtrak. It carries the Amtrak train numbers 29 and 30, previously assigned the ''National Limited'', discontinued in 1979.
On October 1, 1981, Amtrak inaugurated their ''Capitol Limited''. It ran over the same route as the B&O's train east of Pittsburgh, but west of Pittsburgh it used the former Pennsylvania Railroad's Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway. (The B&O route west of Pittsburgh was used by the ''Broadway Limited'' and ''Three Rivers'' from 1990 to 2005, with gaps in between.) On November 12, 1990 trains were rerouted west of Alliance, Ohio due to Conrail's desire to abandon part of the former PFW&C in northwestern Indiana; the ''Capitol Limited'' now uses the former Pennsylvania Railroad Cleveland and Pittsburgh (C&P) line north from Alliance through Hudson, Ohio to Cleveland route.
On the eastbound trek, it leaves from Chicago in the late evening (7:05 p.m.) and arrives in Washington, DC the next day in the late afternoon. (1:30 p.m.) On the westbound trek, it leaves Washington, DC late afternoon (4:05 p.m.) and arrives early morning in Chicago the next day. (8:40 a.m.) The appearance of a shorter westbound ride is due to the one-hour time difference between Washington, DC and Chicago.
Between Washington and Pittsburgh, it mostly follows the historic B&O route along narrow river valleys hemmed in by steep slopes, including the upper Potomac, the Youghiogheny, and the Monongahela, which make for scenic if slow travel. Rail trails parallel much of this route, often on the opposite banks. The route straightens and levels out from Ohio onward.

Contents

Route details

Station stops

External links

References

Route details

The ''Capitol Limited'' operates over CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway trackage:

★ CSX Metropolitan Subdivision, Cumberland Subdivision, Cumberland Terminal Subdivision, Keystone Subdivision, Pittsburgh Subdivision, and P&W Subdivision, Washington to Pittsburgh

★ NS Pittsburgh Line and Fort Wayne Line, Pittsburgh to Alliance

★ NS Cleveland Line, Alliance to Cleveland

★ NS Chicago Line, Cleveland to Chicago

Station stops

State/Province	Town/City	Station	Connections
District of Columbia	Washington	Washington Union Station	'Amtrak:' Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Lake Shore Limited, Palmetto, Regional, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter, Thruway Motorcoach to Charlottesville, Virginia 'MARC Train:' Brunswick Line, Camden Line, Penn Line 'Metro:' Red Line 'Metrobus:' Loudoun, OmniRid 'VRE:' Manassas Line, Fredericksburg Line
Maryland	Rockville	Rockville	'MARC Train:' Brunswick Line 'Metro:' Red Line 'Metrobus:' T2, Q2 'Ride On:' 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 54, 55, 56, 59, 63, 81, T2
West Virginia	Harpers Ferry	Harpers Ferry	'MARC Train:' Brunswick Line
	Martinsburg	Martinsburg	'MARC Train:' Brunswick Line
Maryland	Cumberland	Cumberland	none
Pennsylvania	Connellsville	Connellsville
	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh Union Station	'Amtrak:' Pennsylvanian
Ohio	Alliance	Alliance	none
	Cleveland	Cleveland Lakefront Station	'Amtrak:' Lake Shore Limited 'RTA Rapid Transit:' Blue Line, Green Line
	Elyria	Elyria	'Amtrak:' Lake Shore Limited
	Sandusky	Sandusky	'Amtrak:' Lake Shore Limited
	Toledo	Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza	'Amtrak:' Lake Shore Limited, Thruway Motorcoach to Detroit and East Lansing, Michigan
Indiana	Waterloo	Waterloo	'Amtrak:' Lake Shore Limited
	Elkhart	Elkhart	'Amtrak:' Lake Shore Limited
	South Bend	South Bend	'Amtrak:' Lake Shore Limited
Illinois	Chicago	Chicago Union Station	'Amtrak:' Ann Rutledge, Blue Water, California Zephyr, Cardinal and Hoosier State, Carl Sandburg, City of New Orleans, Empire Builder, Hiawatha, Illini, Illinois Zephyr, Lake Shore Limited, Lincoln Service, Pera Marquette, Saluki, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle, Wolverine, Thruway Motorcoach to Louisville, Kentucky, Madison, Wisconsin and Rockford, Illinois 'CTA:' 14, 19, 20, X20, 38, 56, 60, 120, 122, 124, 127, 129, 157 'Metra:' BNSF Railway, HC, MD-N, MD-W, NCS, SWS

External links

★ Amtrak - ''Capitol Limited''

References

★ Mike Schafer, Amtrak's atlas, ''Trains'' June 1991