Amtrak’s Southwest chief had one of the best on time performances for any of the rail carriers long distance trains in January and for the past year as well.

The train which serves Hutchinson and other stops in Kansas had an over all on time percentage rating of 93%. The train was on time 96% of the time coming from Chicago and 90% on the longer leg coming from the west coast.

Amtrak must rely on freight railroads to let their trains run past longer freight trains which can cause very long delays on busier lines. The Southwest Chief benefits from having a very long stretch of line that it runs on, essentially by itself, eliminating freight traffic.

On the other side of the coin, mountains and very busy tracks make the California Zephyr one of the least on time long distance trains coming in at just 61%. The Chicago to San Francisco train is continuously plagued by delays due to heavy freight traffic.