Waukegan to Madison runs about 5 times a day, with the first departure around 06:02 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays between €21.24 and €25.09, every fee included, depending on the operator and the way you travel. The fastest door to door is 1h 58m over 172 km, on services run by 1 operator across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
The spread between the cheapest and dearest typical fare on this corridor, across 1 operator and 1 way of making the journey. The operator sets the price on the day.
Typical fares
€21.24 to €25.09
- 183%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving Waukegan
No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.
- 06:02First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 5Services per day
- 20%Run direct
Amtrak runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.
Buying this journey
Bookaway lists departures for Waukegan to Madison on your date, and you pay on their side.
See Waukegan to Madison on Bookaway
Or compare on 12GoOr compare on Amtrak
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.
Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €48.74Mon14
- about €43.79Tue15
- about €49.29Wed16
- about €47.09Thu17
- about €50.39Fri18
- about €42.14Sat19
- about €44.34Sun20
- about €25.09Mon21
- about €31.14Tue22
- about €33.88Wed23
- about €41.04Thu24
- about €37.74Fri25
- about €37.73Sat26
- about €34.98Sun27
- about €25.09Mon28
- about €21.24Tue29
- about €26.19Wed30
- about €26.74Thu1
- about €26.74Fri2
- about €25.09Sat3
- about €21.24Sun4
Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.
The train gets you into Madison. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Madison for the night the train gets in
Sort by distance from Madison station (C&NW) and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Madison on Booking.comOr compare on Expedia
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Waukegan to Madison
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €23.4490 days
- €20.6960 days
- €23.9945 days
- €17.3930 days
- €21.2421 days
- €34.9814 days
- €44.347 days
- €49.293 days
- €48.741 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 30 days ahead, at €17.39.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time is 183 percent. The dearest point is €49.29, 3 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 30 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 30 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Waukegan to Madison and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.
The shape of it
172 km
150 km as the crow flies, 15% further by the route services actually take. The bearing runs north-west.
Who lives at each end
88,475 → 280,305
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
0/2
2 of these connections were inferred from service-area overlap rather than observed in a timetable. We would rather say so.
The route
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 20% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 80% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 172 km against 150 km in a straight line, a detour of 15 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Racine, Elgin, Milwaukee, Rockford. The gap between arriving and leaving is 50 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 19 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is ours to fix and you are rebooked at no charge.
Who runs this route
The train gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Left luggage near Madison station (C&NW)
Most of the points near Madison station (C&NW) open before the first train and shut after the last one.
Check Madison on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Waukegan to Madison
The questions people actually ask about this journey, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Waukegan to Madison?
The fastest journey from Waukegan to Madison takes 1h 58m door to door, of which 1h 23m is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 2h 3m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Waukegan to Madison?
The cheapest fare from Waukegan to Madison is €21.24, as of 13 September 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €35.54. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Waukegan to Madison?
The cheapest way from Waukegan to Madison is by train, at €25.09 for one passenger on 29 September 2026. That journey takes 2h 7m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
When should I book Waukegan to Madison?
Fares from Waukegan to Madison bottom out around 30 days before departure, at €17.39. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the dearest lead time is 183 percent, measured on 13 September 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Waukegan to Madison?
Monday is the cheapest day to depart from Waukegan to Madison, at €25.09. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of 13 September 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Waukegan to Madison?
December is the cheapest of the next 6 months to travel from Waukegan to Madison, at €20.14 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs services from Waukegan to Madison?
1 operators sell services from Waukegan to Madison across 1 mode: Amtrak. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from Waukegan to Madison?
20 percent of the services we sell from Waukegan to Madison are direct. The rest connect at Racine, Elgin, Milwaukee, Rockford, with about 50 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
Which station or terminal do services from Waukegan to Madison use?
Services from Waukegan to Madison by train leave from Waukegan and arrive at Madison station (C&NW). Allow about 44m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Waukegan to Madison?
1 of the 1 operators we sell from Waukegan to Madison allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Derived from service area No carrier record names this exact pair. The operators listed publish a service area covering both places at a distance their mode plausibly carries people, which is evidence that the corridor is served and not evidence of a specific service. Pages state which, because presenting the two as the same thing would be dishonest.
Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Waukegan to Madison on 13 September 2026: 172 km of route against 150 km in a straight line, 5 services a day, 1 operator a cheapest fare of €21.24, and 1h 58m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
The train is the simple part. What you do once you are in Madison is somebody else's catalogue.
Day trips out of Madison and across United States
Day trips that leave Madison in the morning and cover a good part of United States by evening.
See Madison on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
Waukegan reaches 20 places in 1 countries on services we hold, over distances from 41 to 510 km. Madison reaches 41 places in 1 countries, from 93 to 2,684 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Waukegan
- 20Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 2Operators
Arriving in Madison
Leaving Madison
- 41Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 16Operators