Cheapest€38.29
- Amtrak A646806:022h 30m08:32IndependenceDes Moines Union Station
Door to door 3h 14mCO2 10.9 kgChanges 0Refundable
Independence to Des Moines train
Trains from Independence to Des Moines start at €46.54 and take 3h 14m at their fastest.
The Trains from Independence to Des Moines starts at €46.54 and takes 3h 14m door to door, run by 1 operator over 330 km, with around 3 departures a day. Fares bottom out about 60 days before departure.
- 3h 14mDoor to door
- 2h 30mMoving
- €46.54From
- 10.9 kgCO2
The cheapest and the fastest on 29 September 2026
Two journeys we can sell today, with the service number each operator files them under.
Train operators
Speed, flexibility and what is on board. Nothing here is a rating, because we have not earned one.
| Operator | From | Fastest | Typical speed | Flexibility | On board |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Amtrak | €38.29 | 3h 1m | 140 km/h | Refundable | Power sockets, Wi-Fi |
The journey ends at Des Moines Union Station. Everything past the barriers belongs to somebody else, the rooms included.
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Hotels and flats near the centre, most of them with free cancellation, on a map that shows what is walkable.
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When to book Independence to Des Moines
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €59.7490 days
- €31.6960 days
- €34.9945 days
- €31.6930 days
- €46.5421 days
- €76.7914 days
- €78.997 days
- €81.743 days
- €125.741 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €31.69.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time is 297 percent. The dearest point is €125.74, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 60 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Which departure day costs least
Median cheapest fare for each weekday, taken across the next three weeks of real prices.
- €67.44Sun
- €46.54Mon
- €57.54Tue
- €63.04Wed
- €76.79Thu
- €70.19Fri
- €76.79Sat
Where you leave from and where you arrive
The stations, airports and ports each mode on this corridor actually uses.
Independence
Rail
- Independence
Des Moines
Rail
- Des Moines Union Station
- East Des Moines Union Depot
- Des Moines Western Railway Freight House
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
- 33% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 67% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 330 km against 287 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 Davenport, O'Fallon. The gap between arriving and leaving is 81 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 12 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.
- First and last departure
- The first service of the day leaves Independence at 06:02 and the last at 07:30, across 3 departures. The return direction keeps its own timetable, so the times back are not these times reversed.
Questions about Independence to Des Moines
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 the Train from Independence to Des Moines take?
The Train from Independence to Des Moines takes 3h 14m door to door, of which 2h 30m is spent moving. The route runs 330 km. The difference between the two times is reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end, which every time on this page includes.
How much does the Train from Independence to Des Moines cost?
The Train from Independence to Des Moines starts at €46.54 for one passenger, checked on 12 September 2026. A typical fare is €97.14. Both are the total including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so the price here is the price at checkout.
Who runs the Train from Independence to Des Moines?
1 operators run the Train from Independence to Des Moines: Amtrak. Between them they file around 3 departures a day. The operator table on this page compares them on fare, journey time, cruising speed, fare conditions and what is provided on board.
Which terminal does the Train from Independence to Des Moines use?
The Train from Independence to Des Moines leaves from Independence and arrives at Des Moines Union Station. Allow about 44m for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one. That time is already inside every door to door figure quoted on this page.
When should I book the Train from Independence to Des Moines?
Fares for the Train from Independence to Des Moines bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €31.69. The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time across the window is 297 percent, measured on 12 September 2026. Booking inside the final week has consistently cost more.
How much CO2 does the Train from Independence to Des Moines produce?
The Train from Independence to Des Moines produces about 10.9 kg of CO2 per passenger over 330 km, which works out at roughly 33 grams per passenger kilometre. That figure is for the whole journey and for one traveller, not for the vehicle.
What is provided on board the Train from Independence to Des Moines?
Operators on the Train from Independence to Des Moines publish Power sockets, Wi-Fi. That is what 1 carriers on this corridor state about their own fleets, across a journey of 3h 14m door to door. Where a carrier publishes nothing, this page lists nothing for it.
Where these numbers come from
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.
Schedules, seat counts and fares are generated by our own model until the supplier contracts are signed. Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance are real. We would rather say that on every page than let a modelled number pass for a filed one.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Independence to Des Moines on 12 September 2026: 330 km of route against 287 km in a straight line, 3 services a day, 1 operators, a cheapest fare of €46.54, and 3h 14m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
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Our job ends on the platform. What fills the days in Des Moines afterwards does not belong to us.
Anything to book in Des Moines before you go?
Day trips that leave Des Moines in the morning and cover a good part of United States by evening.
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