Prior services The Missouri River Runner route was previously served by the
Missouri Mules (known as the
Kansas City Mule westbound and the
St. Louis Mule eastbound) and the
Ann Rutledge under the
Missouri Service brand. The
Missouri Service, in turn, ran along the former main line of the
Missouri Pacific Railroad. Several of MoPac's St. Louis–Kansas City trains continued onward to Omaha and Denver. Missouri Pacific was acquired by the
Union Pacific Railroad in 1983. When Amtrak took over nationwide passenger service in 1971, the route became the western leg of the
National Limited, which originated in New York. This was the first passenger train on the route to originate at a point east of the Mississippi River. It was the successor of the famed
Spirit of St. Louis, which was extended to Kansas City after Amtrak's formation and renamed later in 1971. When the
National Limited was canceled in 1979, the only train serving the St. Louis–Kansas City corridor was the Chicago–Kansas City
Ann Rutledge. Missouri officials pressed for the introduction of the
Mules in order to maintain and improve service between St. Louis and Kansas City. Over the ensuing years of state subsidy, additional station stops were established at Washington, Hermann, Lee's Summit and Independence. The
Ann Rutledge had previously been part of both the
Missouri Service and
Illinois Service, but had its eastern terminus cut back to St. Louis in 2006. This gave the St. Louis–Kansas City route two daily round trips on a schedule similar to the last pre-Amtrak MoPac service. The Chicago–St. Louis
State House connected once per day with the
Ann Rutledge to continue through service from Chicago to Kansas City. In 1984, Amtrak's Jefferson City depot and ticket office was moved from the former MoPac station to a renovated historic building east of the depot but closer to the Missouri State Capitol. It was hoped the relocated station would allow tourists and others easier access to the state government buildings. Jefferson City is not on an Interstate Highway; the nearest commercial airport is in
Columbia. The revived station stop at Hermann was instituted in similar fashion to encourage use of Amtrak for access the city's popular German festivals.
Missouri River Runner In 2008, Amtrak and the
Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) decided to merge the
Mules and
Ann Rutledge into a single route. The name of the new route was announced in January 2009 as part of the "Name The Train" contest held by MoDOT. The winning name was submitted by Keith Kohler of
Glendale, Missouri; it reflects the fact that the route largely parallels the
Missouri River. The other finalists were
Missouri Rail Blazer,
ShowMeMO,
Truman Service and
River Cities Corridor. The service is financed primarily through funds made available by MoDOT. In November 2009, Amtrak and Union Pacific completed an $8.1-million
passing loop near
California, Missouri, designed to improve performance along the route. It was funded by the state of Missouri and the
Federal Railroad Administration and has been credited with helping to improve Amtrak's on-time performance. Due to these improvements, on-time performance has increased from less than 70% to 95%. During
fiscal year 2015, the service carried a total of 178,915 passengers, a 5.5% decrease from FY 2014's total of 189,402 passengers. The trains had a total revenue of
$5,108,200 during FY 2015, a decrease of 4.4% from FY 2014's total of $5,341,229. By 2020, the State of Missouri owed Amtrak $6.5 million in unpaid bills in addition to that year's contract amount for continued service.
COVID-19 pandemic In March 2020, service was reduced to one round trip per day due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Amtrak and MoDOT restored the route's second daily round trip on July 19, 2021. However, this second round trip was once again suspended on January 3, 2022, after the
Missouri General Assembly cut the trip from the state budget. Missouri restored full funding in July 2022 amid increased demand for public transit due to
high gas prices. The second round trip returned on July 18, but was suspended again on October 24, 2022, due to a shortage of available train equipment. The second round trip was officially added back again on December 16, 2022. On May 23, 2022, Amtrak began
through-routing one round trip of the
Missouri River Runner and
Lincoln Service, creating a Kansas City–Chicago round trip. , a third daily round trip is expected to begin in April 2026.
Proposed expansion MoDOT has proposed extending the
Missouri River Runner west from Kansas City to
St. Joseph, Missouri. In December 2023, the
Federal Railroad Administration accepted an application by MoDOT to enter the St. Joseph–Kansas City route into its
Corridor Identification and Development Program. The program grants $500,000 toward service planning and prioritizes the extension for future federal funding. ==Rolling stock==