Southwest Chief
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, has a station in Fort Madison that serves its "Southwest Chief" route with thrice weekly stops Monday, Thursday and Saturday in each direction between Union Station in Chicago, Illinois and Union Station in Los Angeles, California. Fort Madison is the only "Southwest Chief" route stop within the state of Iowa. The "Southwest Chief" crosses the Mississippi River on the Fort Madison Toll Bridge just to the east of town. The span, owned by the BNSF Railway, is the world's longest swing bridge, and it carries both road and rail traffic over the Mississippi River between Fort Madison and Niota, Illinois.