Cheapest€38.29
- Amtrak A820506:022h 34m08:36Des Moines Union StationIndependence
Door to door 3h 18mCO2 10.9 kgChanges 0Refundable
Des Moines to Independence train
Trains from Des Moines to Independence start at €46.54 and take 3h 18m at their fastest.
The Trains from Des Moines to Independence starts at €46.54 and takes 3h 18m door to door, run by 1 operator over 330 km, with around 3 departures a day. Fares bottom out about 45 days before departure.
- 3h 18mDoor to door
- 2h 34mMoving
- €46.54From
- 10.9 kgCO2
The cheapest and the fastest on September 29, 2026
Two journeys we can sell today, with the service number each operator files them under.
Rail 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 outlets, Wi-Fi |
Independence is small enough to walk across, so almost anywhere downtown works. We still do not sell the room.
Rooms within reach of Independence
Filter by neighborhood and by nightly price, and the map tells you what is a walk and what is a cab.
Search Independence 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 Des Moines to Independence
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €59.1990 days
- €38.8460 days
- €37.7445 days
- €39.3930 days
- €49.8421 days
- €58.6414 days
- €76.247 days
- €64.693 days
- €99.891 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 45 days ahead, at €37.74.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 165 percent. The most expensive point is €99.89, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 45 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
- €58.64Fri
- €64.69Sat
Where you leave from and where you arrive
The stations, airports and ports each mode on this corridor actually uses.
Des Moines
Rail
- Des Moines Union Station
- East Des Moines Union Depot
- Des Moines Western Railway Freight House
Independence
Rail
- Independence
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 O'Fallon, Davenport. The gap between arriving and leaving is 60 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 16 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 Des Moines 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 Des Moines to Independence
The questions people actually ask about this trip, 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 Des Moines to Independence take?
The Train from Des Moines to Independence takes 3h 18m door to door, of which 2h 34m 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 Des Moines to Independence cost?
The Train from Des Moines to Independence starts at €46.54 for one passenger, checked on September 29, 2026. A typical fare is €103.19. 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 Des Moines to Independence?
1 operators run the Train from Des Moines to Independence: 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 Des Moines to Independence use?
The Train from Des Moines to Independence leaves from Des Moines Union Station and arrives at Independence. 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 Des Moines to Independence?
Fares for the Train from Des Moines to Independence bottom out around 45 days ahead, at €37.74. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time across the window is 165 percent, measured on September 29, 2026. Booking inside the final week has consistently cost more.
How much CO2 does the Train from Des Moines to Independence produce?
The Train from Des Moines to Independence produces about 10.9 kg of CO2 per passenger over 330 km, which works out at roughly 33 grams per passenger kilometer. That figure is for the whole journey and for one traveler, not for the vehicle.
What is provided on board the Train from Des Moines to Independence?
Operators on the Train from Des Moines to Independence publish Power outlets, Wi-Fi. That is what 1 carriers on this corridor state about their own fleets, across a journey of 3h 18m 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 modeled 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 Des Moines to Independence on September 11, 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 18m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Related journeys
Independence to Des Moines trainCompare every mode from Des Moines to IndependenceChampaign to Independence trainChesterfield to Independence trainChicago to Independence trainCicero to Independence trainDavenport to Independence trainFlorissant to Independence trainChampaign to Independence trainChesterfield to Independence trainChicago to Independence trainCicero to Independence trainDavenport to Independence trainFlorissant to Independence train
Plenty of what is worth seeing sits outside Independence and elsewhere in United States. None of it is ours to sell.
What to book in Independence before you go
Day trips that leave Independence in the morning and cover a good part of United States by evening.
See Independence 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.