1. Take the Lake Shore Chi to NY and then take a Regional train from NY to Philly.

2. Take the Capitol Limited Chi to DC and then take a Regional train from DC to Philly.

3. Take the Capitol Limited from Chi to Pittsburgh, then transfer in Pittsburgh to the Three Rivers/Pennsylvanian (what ever they are going to call the single train running from Pittsbugh to Philly by then). Take note of the layover in Pittsburgh that will be in effect when you travel, though, and have a backup plan if the Capitol Limited is late (i.e. continuing on to DC).

There are basically three types of service between DC-Philly-NY (listed from most expensive to least expensive):

1. Acela Express
2. Metroliner
3. Regionals

I would not attempt to schedule a "same-day" connection from ANY of the Western trains to the Capitol. You will only end-up very frustrated---to say the least. In that the Western trains are usually late, there is simply no way to make the connection.

Fact is, the Capitol leaves Chicago too early for the Western trains to connect. In days past, the Capitol departed Chicago---Eastbound---at about 7:20 PM. This made connections to this train more feasible. But, since the Capitol's departure time has been moved up to an earlier 5:20 PM departure it is almost impossible to make a connection to that train from the West.

The "reasoning" behind the Capitol's earlier departure from Chicago (from what I understand) was to make connections with that train easier with South-bound trains from DC. However, this has totally ruined any likely chance of connections to the Capitol from Western trains.

As I have posted on this site before, I always connected to the 3-Rivers Eastbound from Chicago because it left late---at 10:30 PM. Now, I ---and many others---will be forced to consider other options Eastbound from Chicago , since the 3-Rivers will no longer be available.

So, to get back to Pittsburgh (my "home" station ) from Chicago, I must either take the Lake Shore or the Cardinal. Either one will add at least a full day to my return. Needless to say I am rather upset about this.

Countless individuals have been (and will continue to be ) "stranded" in Chicago---unable to connect to the Capitol from Western trains. This makes for very frustrated passengers and must be very costly to Amtrak if these individuals must be hoteled in Chicago overnite. To be honest, I think more connections are missed to the Eastbound Capitol than were EVER missed to the Southern trains from DC when the Capitol ran a later departure from Chicago. Needless to say, I think it was a HUGE blunder on Amtrak's part when the Capitols schedule was changed. Another blunder was the elimination of the 3-Rivers to/from Chicago.