Missouri

State Details

See Wikipedia; also see United States for information relating to the country as a whole, and the national operator Amtrak.

Maps

Missouri is covered by the SPV "North America Railroad Atlas" volume Prairies East and Ozarks.

Rail Operators

Missouri is unusual in that it contains the AMTRAK railroad station for Kansas City, much of which is in the state of Kansas.

• AMTRAK
  • Lincoln Service Missouri River Runner From Chicago to Kansas city entering Missouri from Illinois before St.Louis-Gateway.
  • Texas Eagle Operates Chicago - St.Louis - San Antonio - Los Angeles entering Missouri from Illinois before St.Louis-Gateway. After a station call at Poplar Bluff the train leaves the state and enters Arkansas.
  • Southwest Chief Operates Chicago - Kansas City - Los Angeles. The train runs through the northwest corner of the state entering after Fort Madison, Iowa, calling at La Plata and Kansas City-Union before leaving into Kansas.

Tourist Lines

• The Belton, Grandview and Kansas City Railroad is a short line passenger railroad and museum located in Belton, Missouri. It operates as a heritage railroad on the former Kansas City to Springfield branch. Trains run south from Belton for 2.5 miles (4 km).
• The Branson Scenic Railway is a heritage railroad located in Branson, Missouri. As the underlying rail lines are owned by the Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad (MNA) and are still in use as an active railroad, MNA traffic determines whether a particular trip will operate northbound from Branson to Galena, Missouri, or southbound from Branson to the Barren Fork Trestle in Arkansas. Both routes are approximately 40-miles (64 km) round trip.
• The Frisco Silver Dollar Line is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge heritage railroad and amusement park attraction located in the Silver Dollar City amusement park in Branson, Missouri. The line is a loop approximately 1.6 miles (2.6 km) long.
• St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway. A heritage railroad based in Jackson, Missouri operating on about 6 miles (9.7 km) of shortline in Cape Girardeau County.

Metro and light rail systems

EGTROW terminology in this section

The EGTROW readership is international and the terminology used for what may be generically called Lightweight Rail Vehicles can be very confusing. For EGTROW purposes, and acknowledging that there may be minor differences, the following groupings are used:-

• Metro and Subway are interchangeable.
• Funicular, Funicular Railway, Incline and Elevator are interchangeable.
• Tram, Tramway, Trolley and Streetcar are interchangeable.
• Light Rail is considered to apply to systems with vehicles using reserved rights of way with minimal, if any, street running.

Beware of Trolleys that are actually Trolley Buses, and Trolleys, Streetcars and Trains that are actually disguised rubber tired road vehicles. Some cable cars are also described as Tramways.

For those who wish for precise definitions, Wikipedia offers a multitude of possibilities all outside of the scope of a website dedicated to identifying rail travel opportunities.

St. Louis

Metrolink MetroLink (commonly referred to as "Metro") is the St. Louis metropolitan region’s light rail system, connecting 46 miles of rail across 38 MetroLink stations in Missouri and Illinois. Track gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge and electrification by overhead line, 750 V DC. A Metrolink schematic map is here.
The 38-mile (61 km) Red Line begins at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Missouri and terminates at the Fairview Heights station in Illinois
The 24-mile (38.6 km) Blue Line starts at the Shrewsbury-Lansdowne I-44 station in Shrewsbury, Missouri and terminates at the Fairview Heights station in Illinois.

Kansas City

KC Streetcar This is a 2.2 miles (3.5 km) long one-route streetcar system in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. A map of the streetcar route is here

Recent and Future Changes

Recent Changes

None

Future Changes

A 5.2-mile (8.4 km) extension of the Metrolink Red Line in St. Louis from Shiloh–Scott to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah is under construction with opening forecast for the summer of 2026.

A 3.48 miles (5.60 km) extension of the KC Streetcar in Kansas City south to University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) along Main Street is currently under construction with completion expected in October 2025.

A 0.75 mile (1.2 km) extension of the KC Streetcar in Kansas City north from the River Market toward the Missouri River, connecting to Berkley Riverfront Park and the Kansas City Current soccer stadium (CPKC Stadium) is under construction with completion anticipated to be in 2026.

Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services

See USA - Lines with Obscure or Sparse passenger services - Missouri.