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Ever since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, the east-west Sunset Limited Amtrak train from Orlando and Jacksonville and onto New Orleans has been cancelled and desired expansion of the Eastern Seaboard trains – the Palmetto and Silver -- appears unlikely.
There has been no passenger train service from New Orleans to Jacksonville since last year and state transportation officials predicted it could be a long time before service resumes.
Recently Amtrak officials have been talking with transportation officials from the four Gulf Coast states about the states possibly funding a resumption of the Sunset Limited.
“Why would the state invest money in passenger rail in the least populated areas of the state?” one Florida official asked. “If the State of Florida is going to put up big bucks for passenger rail, it would be in Central and South Florida where the potential riders are – not in rural North Florida.”
Not only has the equipment been moved to other areas of the country, all of the employees have disbursed as well. So prospects for the resumption of passenger trains across North Florida to points westward appear to be very slim.
One expansion plan the State is very much in favor of is Amtrak passenger rail down the East Coast of Florida. Currently Amtrak’s Palmetto and Silver Service (the Silver Meteor and Silver Star) offer service between New York City, Georgia and Florida. These trains take the CSX “A Line” from Jacksonville, through Deland, Orlando and over to Tampa. South Florida bound trains go from Lakeland, Sebring and on down to West Palm Beach and Miami.
The State would like to see Amtrak negotiate a deal with the Florida East Coast Railway to provide passenger service down the east coast on the Florida East Coast Railway tracks.
However, this appears unlikely because Congress has prohibited Amtrak from providing any new routes until they have paid back previous loans.
So literally, it would take an Act of Congress to get that deal negotiated. And, then there would have to be an agreement with Florida East Coast Railway.
The other Amtrak service to Florida is the very popular Auto Train. The service brings automobiles and passengers from Lorton, VA (outside of Washington, D.C.) to Sanford, Florida. This service does not make any stops in between but is popular with visitors from the Northeast that desire to bring their automobiles.
Since the Sunset Limited east-west services ceased, it appears there will be very little changes in Amtrak’s Florida operations for the near future.
Visit us often for additional postings on passenger rail in Florida.
Reprinting, or publishing in any form, these articles or the information contained therein is encouraged with or without credit to The Florida Bullet Train.
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