Hiawatha Service,
or Hiawatha,
is the name of an 86-mile (138 km) train route operated by
Amtrak on the western shore of Lake Michigan, although the name
was historically applied to several different routes that
extended across the Midwest and out to the Pacific Ocean.
As of 2007, fourteen trains (seven round-trips, six on Sunday)
run daily between Chicago IL, and Milwaukee WI, making
intermediate stops in Glenview, Illinois, Sturtevant, Wisconsin,
and General Mitchell International Airport. The line is
partially supported by funds from the state governments of
Wisconsin and Illinois.
The service carried over 800,000 passengers
in fiscal year 2011, a 4.7% increase over FY2010. Revenue
during FY2011 totaled $14,953,873, a 6.1% increase over FY2010.
It is Amtrak's ninth-busiest route, and the railroad's busiest
line in the Midwest. Ridership per mile is also very high,
exceeded only by the Northeast Regional and the
Capitol Corridor. A one-way trip between Milwaukee and
Chicago takes about 90 minutes. In the 1930s the same trip took
75 minutes on the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific
Railroad's Hiawatha.