By Star-Journal Staff
The Missouri River Runner is set to receive a 25% capacity increase during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Missouri Department of Transportation announced on Wednesday, April 29.
This expansion, which features cars transferred from Illinois and Michigan, will begin by June 15 and be available through the World Cup matches in Kansas City until 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,” MoDOT Director Ed Hassinger said. “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.”
The Missouri River Runner has two westbound and eastbound trains each day.
The westbound trains go through Warrensburg at 12:21 p.m. and 7:13 p.m. each day, with the eastbound trains traveling through at 9:57 a.m. and 5:19 p.m.
The morning Missouri River Runner eastbound train originates in Kansas City and continues through St. Louis with an extension to St. Louis. The afternoon eastbound train runs from Kansas City to St. Louis.
The morning westbound train originates in St. Louis and runs through Kansas City, while the evening train originates in Chicago and runs to St. Louis with extended service to Kansas City.
“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.”
