Kids can ride Amtrak Hiawatha free on weekends throughout summer

MILWAUKEE -- Traveling to Milwaukee and Chicago by train just got more affordable with the weekend child discount. On Amtrak Hiawatha, one child ages 2-12 (infants under 2 are always free) can ride with an adult for free on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through September 8.

These children ride along at no charge on the seven round trips Friday and Saturday and six round trips Sunday with stops at Milwaukee Intermodal Station, Milwaukee Airport and Sturtevant in Wisconsin and Glenview and Chicago in Illinois. Friday evenings, a late train departs Chicago at 11:25 p.m. To obtain the discount use code V518 and purchase tickets online at AmtrakHiawatha.com, on the phone, at the ticket counter or through the Amtrak app. The 50 percent child discount continues Monday through Thursday.

Students, ages 13-25, receive a 15 percent student discount on the Amtrak Hiawatha. Students can further their travel savings because the Amtrak Midwest partners, which includes train service in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, also honor the discount. Use discount code V307.

Amtrak Hiawatha offers free wi-fi and trainside checked bicycle service.  Passengers may also travel with their small pets.

With more than 858,000 passengers in the last year, this is the busiest Amtrak corridor in the Midwest. Improvements planned for 2019 include additional refurbished coach cars and seating capacity to accommodate growing ridership. The Wisconsin and Illinois DOTs, in partnership with Amtrak, and in coordination with the Federal Rail Administration also are completing a plan that would expand the number of daily roundtrips.