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Coach USA/Van Galder has added a sixth daily roundtrip between Madison and Chicago Union Station with a 4:30 p.m. departure from the UW Memorial Union and 10:15 p.m. departure from Chicago Union Station.

Eleven of the twelve one-way runs of the day operate as Amtrak Thruway buses, meaning you can book your rail and bus ticket through Amtrak on the same reservation and make just one payment for both. The 4:30 p.m. departure to Chicago is the one not included as an Amtrak booking option but as Van Galder buses are unreserved, you can pick your bus to take that same date.

Coach USA/Van Galder also has adjusted the departure times for two other buses on the run, significantly shortening the travel time of one of them.

All twelve buses also stop in Madison at the Dutch Mill Park 'n Ride lot near the East Beltline and I-39/90 interchange. The time difference on the schedule between the two stops is 15 minutes.

Here are the changes as compiled from the Fall 2008/Winter 2009 Amtrak national timetable and the Coach USA/Van Galder Web site, with schedules shown as effective Sept. 15.

NEW LATE NIGHT CHICAGO UNION STATION-MADISON BUS

Coach USA/Van Galder has added a new last-of-the-day daily Chicago-to-Madison Amtrak Thruway bus with a 10:15 p.m. departure from Union Station. Arrival is at 1:35 a.m. at the UW Memorial Union.

It's the only one of the six daily Madison runs from Chicago that isn't subject to a change of buses along the way, according to Van Galder.

This new bus departs a hour 45 minutes after the previous last bus of the day, at 8:30 p.m., from Union Station.

The new bus will serve those connecting to Madison and intermediate points from trains arriving from Kansas City-St. Louis-Springfield and Quincy-Galesburg.

It also offers a later bus option for any passengers on late-arriving trains, most often those from the West, missing connections with the 8:30 p.m. bus to Madison. Even those arriving earlier in the day on other trains now can spend more time seeing the sights in Chicago, if they are so inclined.

It still misses connections for those trains arriving from Pontiac-Detroit- Battle Creek (10:38 p.m.), Carbondale-Champaign/Urbana (10:45 p.m.), and St. Louis-Springfield (11:10 p.m.)

ANOTHER MADISON-CHICAGO UNION STATION BUS

Not mentioned in the Amtrak timetable -- for reasons unknown -- is a sixth and last-of-the-day daily Madison-to-Chicago bus which stops at Union Station.

That bus departs at 4:30 p.m. and arrives at Union Station at 8:30 p.m., in time for connections with the 10 p.m. Lake Shore Limited to New York and Boston. It's the only train leaving Chicago Union Station after 8:05 p.m. (to Milwaukee), which may explain why it's not designated as an Amtrak Thruway bus.

DEPARTURE TIMES FOR TWO BUSES PUSHED BACK BY 30 MINUTES

Slight time changes also have been made in two other Thruway bus runs between Madison and Chicago.

-- The last Madison-to-Chicago Union Station bus of the day -- at least in the Amtrak timetables -- now departs Madison from the UW Memorial Union a half-hour later than in the past, at 2:30 p.m., with a scheduled 6:45 p.m. arrival.

This effectively eliminates last-minute connections for all but the risk-takers with the last Chicago-St. Louis train of the day (7 p.m.) and connections with the Capital Limited (7:05 p.m.). There are four other options for those passengers, with the last departing the Memorial Union at 11:30 a.m. and arriving at 4 p.m.

Another complication for those arriving at 6:45 p.m.: since Oct. 1, Amtrak has been closing ticket sales 10 minutes prior to departure at Chicago Union Station and requires all passengers to be on board at least five minutes before departure.

-- Van Galder's former 6:30 p.m. departure from Union Station for Madison has been shifted to 7 p.m. and the trip shortened by 45 minutes in the process. The new arrival time here is now 10:20 p.m. versus the former 10:35 p.m.

OTHER DETAILS

Thruway tickets can be purchased online (or at 1-800-USA RAIL) with Amtrak when booking your train trip, or separately at Van Galder's Web site. Seating is unreserved and tickets are valid for any Van Galder bus on the same route the same day, Van Galder advises.

Current prices quoted on the Van Galder Web site are $27 one way and $54 round-trip between Madison and downtown Chicago. That one-way fare is the same price shown on Amtrak's Web site when also booking a train.

Van Galder offers some college students $40 roundtrip tickets between Madison or Beloit and downtown Chicago, as well as UW Memorial Union members. Click here for more details.