Amtrak

I love this station yes the trains are late but THATS AMTRAK GET USE TO IT pat she’s amazing I always love that gal she’s always helped me and my dad to the train station is awsome old historic

I’m not a big fan of flying so when the opportunity allows I look to travel by train. I’ve used Amtrak throughout the country from hour commutes to multi-​day trips that allowed us to book sleeping car accommodations.
Some lines are a complete joy. They are on time and effortless. Others are consistently late and problematic. I have taken the California Zephyr out of Osceola many times and unfortunately it falls in to the latter category. This station and line are plagued with problems.
It’s consistently several hours late. This is coupled with issues with the Amtrak information service and station personnel not being able to give accurate updates on the status of the train. There’s nothing more annoying than having to drive an hour early in the morning to catch a train in to Chicago only to have to wait for several hours in this very worn and old train station because of the inability of the website, hot line or station staff being able to deliver timely information. The «station lady» that operates this station does so in a consistently authoritarian and abrasive manner.
There are no amenities here and the bathrooms haven’t seen any maintenance in a very, very long time. I wouldn’t suggest using the bowl in the men’s room if you are prone to stage fright.
The Zephyr is a long line and the distance entails a lot of potential for complications with track issues or freight traffic. Problems out west can foreshadow some serious delays for east bound travelers. West in and out bound traffic seems to be less troublesome.
Amtrak out of southern Iowa can still be enjoyable if you are in the right mind set. This means being prepared for delays and not pressed for time. I have made the mistake of scheduling same-​day nighttime activities in Chicago and have missed them.
The train itself is very nice, clean and comfortable with a full-​service dining car, lounge car and observation car. Seats are large and many have 120 V power outlets for electronic devices.
I will use Amtrak again, but will not plan anything outside of travel for my day in to Chicago.