Cheapest Amtrak Tickets

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wildchicken13

Train Attendant
Joined
Feb 19, 2022
Messages
42
People often complain about how expensive Amtrak is compared to driving or flying, but I just bought a one-way ticket on the City of New Orleans from Champaign, Illinois to Chicago for $14. By comparison, the same ticket on the Peoria Charter Bus costs $37, driving costs $20-30 just for gas, and a non-stop plane ticket from Willard to O'Hare is currently $200-300!

This got me wondering what the cheapest Amtrak ticket is. I played around with the Amtrak website and found a $3 ticket from Rantoul, Illinois to Champaign (it's about a 20 minute drive). That's pretty hard to beat, but a ticket on the Cascades from Portland, Oregon to Vancouver, Washington costs only $7 and a ticket on the Hiawatha Service from Chicago to my hometown of Glenview, Illinois costs only $10 (Metra is $6.25).

Obviously, these trips all have one thing in common and that is they are very short. Unlike plane tickets, the price of an Amtrak ticket is proportional to the distance traveled, with the cheapest tickets generally reserved for short trips and the most expensive tickets generally occurring on long-distance cross-country trains. Furthermore, I know that the Hiawatha Service and the some of the downstate Illinois trains are subsidized by the Illinois Department of Transportation, so this may contribute to lower ticket prices for these particular trains.

However, I am curious what other cheap tickets are out there. I don't have time to test every possible pair of stations on Amtrak.com, but perhaps there are some good deals to be had on the Northeast Regional or in California. What is the cheapest Amtrak ticket you've ever purchased? Was it worth it? Are trains a practical alternative to driving for short intercity trips?
 
In the 1960's, Portland to Vancouver or reverse was 35¢ one-way or 65¢ round-trip. The one-way fare on frequent downtown to downtown Vancouver-Portland Bus Co. was also 35¢, but occasionally someone who lived or worked down in the area of the SP&S Station would pay for a train ride. Otherwise, that trip was used by pass holders, school groups, etc. I rode it a few times, eventually on trains of all four railways. Mileage for most trains was 10, via the UP was 8½.

The railway bridge was built before the Pacific Highway's Interstate Bridge and the ferry was subject to shutdowns for high water or ice jams. So, there may have been good cause for this tariff line at one time.
 
wildchicken13 said:
People often complain about how expensive Amtrak is compared to driving or flying, but I just bought a one-way ticket on the City of New Orleans from Champaign, Illinois to Chicago for $14. By comparison, the same ticket on the Peoria Charter Bus costs $37, driving costs $20-30 just for gas, and a non-stop plane ticket from Willard to O'Hare is currently $200-300!

This got me wondering what the cheapest Amtrak ticket is. I played around with the Amtrak website and found a $3 ticket from Rantoul, Illinois to Champaign (it's about a 20 minute drive). That's pretty hard to beat, but a ticket on the Cascades from Portland, Oregon to Vancouver, Washington costs only $7 and a ticket on the Hiawatha Service from Chicago to my hometown of Glenview, Illinois costs only $10 (Metra is $6.25).

Obviously, these trips all have one thing in common and that is they are very short. Unlike plane tickets, the price of an Amtrak ticket is proportional to the distance traveled, with the cheapest tickets generally reserved for short trips and the most expensive tickets generally occurring on long-distance cross-country trains. Furthermore, I know that the Hiawatha Service and the some of the downstate Illinois trains are subsidized by the Illinois Department of Transportation, so this may contribute to lower ticket prices for these particular trains.

However, I am curious what other cheap tickets are out there. I don't have time to test every possible pair of stations on Amtrak.com, but perhaps there are some good deals to be had on the Northeast Regional or in California. What is the cheapest Amtrak ticket you've ever purchased? Was it worth it? Are trains a practical alternative to driving for short intercity trips?
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Portland to Oregon City, 16 miles, is $5 on the twice-daily Cascades. The transit bus fare or LRT/bus fare is $2.50. Way back in 1893 interurban service with a 14-mile line and frequent service took most of the traffic away from the steam trains, so few people would think of making that short hop on a passenger train today.
 
I don't know about the cheapest per mile, but the cheapest ticket is $0.50 between New Haven Union (NHV) and New Haven State Street (STS). It's half a mile and takes two minutes. It's free on Metro-North, Shore Line East, and CTrail Hartford Line trains that traverse the same section.
 
Saddleshoes said:
It may not be the cheapest ticket but...

I can go from Bloomington-Normal Illinois to Springfield Illinois for 8$.
However, if I take my bicycle with me I pay $10 for a bicycle ticket. (I do this one or twice a year.)
THEREFORE, I can get to Springfield cheaper than my bike!
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And if you ride your bike it will be cheaper still! :D
 
A few years back I needed to take a trip—any trip— to save my “frequent engineer miles” on AGR. So I bought a OW from Clemson, SC, (CSN; about 12 miles west of me) to Greenville (GVL; about 12 miles east) for $8.

My wife drove me to CSN just before the Crescent was due, and headed for GVL to wait for me and bring me home. Got there way faster than I did of course, but I saved the miles! 😆

Now that I don’t have to do that I won’t be taking that trip again!
 
A saver ticket from Portland to Oregon City is $4. On the promo sales I was able to get this ticket for $2.50 (that is the same cost as the local bus ticket, which takes 3 to 4 times as long as it takes to ride the train through that segment)!

Also, a saver ticket from Portland to Bingen-White Salmon is only $7. That is a 90 minute drive, and would cost you much more than $7 in gas.
 
AmtrakMaineiac said:
Brunswick to Freeport ME is $3 for a coach seat. About a 15 minute drive by car, about the same by train.
I guess might be useful for a car-less Bowdoin College student who wanted to go shopping at LL Bean.
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- or six bucks one way to Old Orchard Beach (in season). Wow - the last train back is just after midnight. Both OOB and Bowdoin College are very walkable to the station.
 

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