Amtrak adding railcars across Missouri for FIFA World Cup matches in Kansas City

Amtrak is adding railcars on the Missouri River Runner service to provide more capacity across the state of Missouri during the FIFA World Cup matches in Kansas City this summer. 

The additional cars, transferred from Illinois and Michigan, will be added to both daily roundtrips conducted between St. Louis and Kansas City, adding 25% capacity to each train. This expansion will begin by June 15 and be available through July 12. 

“Missouri is proud to welcome visitors from around the world during these World Cup matches, and these additional train cars are key to providing them multimodal options around our state,” said Missouri Department of Transportation Director (MoDOT) Ed Hassinger. “We’re thankful to our partners at Amtrak, Illinois and Michigan to help provide this convenient service to our residents and guests during such a monumental event.”  

MoDOT notes the 283-mile route between St. Louis and Kansas City includes stations in Kirkwood, Washington, Hermann, Jefferson City, Sedalia, Warrensburg, Lee’s Summit and Independence, Mo. Amtrak also has daily service in Kansas City between Chicago and Los Angeles on the Southwest Chief, which includes a stop in La Plata, Mo. 

“Our Amtrak Midwest states are working together to deploy the state-owned fleet to provide the best service to our customers,” said Amtrak Executive Vice President Jennifer Mitchell. “Providing this expanded capacity while Missouri plays host to a worldwide audience was a priority of our state leaders and our customers, and we’re thrilled to bring that to life.”