Amtrak bills the route as one of its most scenic, with views of the Painted Desert and the Red Cliffs of Sedona, as well as the plains of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado.

[8] In September 1993, the Chief was the first of Amtrak's western long-distance trains to receive the new Superliner II sleeping coaches built by Bombardier Transportation.

Until the 1979 realignment via Topeka, service operated via the direct route between Kansas City and Emporia, via Olathe, Gardner and Ottawa.

Following the merger between Burlington Northern and Santa Fe that gave birth to BNSF in 1995, a connector track was built near Cameron, southwest of Galesburg, which would allow freight and passenger trains to transfer from the Chillicothe Subdivision to the BN Mendota Subdivision, the former Chicago and Aurora Railroad / Chicago, Burlington & Quincy - CB&Q tracks.

[13][14] In January 1994, the Southwest Chief was rerouted between San Bernardino and Los Angeles onto the Santa Fe Third District via Fullerton and Riverside.

[18] The part of the Southwest Chief's route in western Kansas, southeastern Colorado, and northeastern New Mexico faced uncertainty throughout the 2010s.

[23] In an open letter, former Amtrak President and CEO Joseph H. Boardman said, "The Southwest Chief issue is the battleground whose outcome will determine the fate of American’s national interconnected rail passenger network".

Per a press release from the office of co-sponsor Senator Jerry Moran, "This amendment would provide resources for maintenance and safety improvements along the Southwest Chief route and would compel Amtrak to fulfill its promise of matching funding for the successful TIGER IX discretionary grant ...

Underlying causes included the engineer's unfamiliarity with the route and speed restriction signage having been removed during track repairs.

[29] On August 9, 1997, the eastbound Southwest Chief derailed about 5 miles northeast of Kingman, Arizona, when a bridge whose undergirding had been washed out by a flash flood and severe rains, collapsed under the weight of the train, which was traveling close to 90 mph (145 km/h).

[30] On October 16, 1999, the westbound Southwest Chief suffered a minor derailment near Ludlow, California, following the Hector Mine earthquake.

[32][33] On June 27, 2022, the eastbound Southwest Chief derailed after striking a dump truck at a level crossing near Mendon, Missouri.

[34][35] The Southwest Chief runs up to 90 mph (145 km/h) along a significant portion of its route, made possible by automatic train stop systems originally installed by the Santa Fe Railway.

[36] During the spring and summer, volunteer rangers with the Trails and Rails program from the National Park Service travel on board and provide a narrative between La Junta, Colorado, and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

[39] The portion of the route between La Junta and Albuquerque (Raton and Glorieta Subdivisions) is known for having some of the last active semaphores on a Class I railroad mainline, dating back to the ATSF era.

Little and/or no freight traffic on those portions of the Chief's route is what caused the semaphores to last until the present day, although over time many were removed by both BNSF and NMDOT.

In August 2024, the last semaphores located on the NMDOT (former 4th Santa Fe District / Glorieta Sub) section of the line, between WSS Lamy and Waldo Siding near Cerrillos were replaced, leaving only 11 blades currently in operation between Wagon Mound and Colmor, in the BNSF Raton Subdivision.

[41] Media related to Southwest Chief at Wikimedia Commons For 150 mph (241 km/h) or more in the US, see High-speed rail in the United States