UPDATED April 30, 2020 – Sorry for fumbling the complete 2019 chart for the westbound Empire Builder. It should be the chart that populates below.
The Empire Builder westbound #7 performed well in October and November, but slipped a bit in December for the Holidays. But the average minutes late in December was still a tolerable 23 minutes.
Westbound7 OnTime Performance 2019
For those of you that attended the WisARP Membership meeting in Madison on Saturday, October 26, you saw my presentation debuted an On-Time chart for the Empire Builder #7 westbound. This chart was created to demonstrate expectations for the TCMC train running just between Chicago and St. Paul (MSP).
The Empire Builder #8 eastbound has its own issues with scheduling, which easily distracts us trying to gauge the 400 miles between St. Paul (MSP) and Chicago. The #7 chart should more clearly demonstrate how well Canadian Pacific is likely to take care of the TCMC train. CP with Metra would be the dispatchers for the TCMC train.
For the month of November 2019, the Empire Builder #7 running to St. Paul had another very good month. A route of over 400 miles with 83 percent of the trains on time, and an average of just 10 minutes late. Very Nice!! Use the link above to see the full chart for 2019.
Wisconsin Association of Railroad Passengers 