Amtrak: Expanding Intercity Corridors

[thelakelander]

I believe the New Orleans to Sanford route would be a long distance Amtrak service, as opposed to an intercity corridor.  From how I understood the representative, the New Orleans segment will be coming back in some type of capacity regardless of if Florida partners with them for Statewide corridor service.

[Ocklawaha]

FDOT's former rail plans have identified a Tallahassee - Jacksonville segment as part of the Florida Corridor's. But take that as a grain of salt.

Trouble is, they have been publishing a phone-book thick report every few years since? 1970's?
All that ever seems to happen is they draw lines on the map, do all the research, make the proposals, then NOTHING. In the past 100's of miles of track they used in their plans have been abandoned. Just look at the Florida HSR proposal. One option was use the current system and increase speeds - then slowly shift to new rights-of-way. Well Shazam! There is a line from Orlando - Leesburg - Ocala - Gainesville - Lake City - Tallahassee (yes they left us out on that drawing). Uh? Somebody tell them the former ACL/SCL mainline ran from Leesburg - Ocala - Gainesville - Mattox (with branch lines from Leesburg to Orlando, and Gainesville to Lake City) Sorry Charlie, those lines were abandoned and FLORIDA did NOTHING to stop it. Simply put, we HAD that railroad in our pocket and let SCL/CSX abandon it. Ditto for the Wildwood - Auburndale cut-off.
Did Florida protest the abandonmet of the (much shorter) CSX "S" mainline from Jacksonville - Savannah?
NOPE! CSX removed the center of it in Georgia leaving two dead end branchlines. Just happens to be the dead end branchline with 75% of our Port on it. Yes the State is behind us in Jacksonville.... WAY BEHIND US.

Time to belly up to the bar and put our money where their mouths are!

OCKLAWAHA

[Coolyfett]

First - reestablish the New Orleans-Jacksonville segment.

Atlanta would be a good route if it continued to Birmingham, AL; Memphis, TN; and Little Rock, AR. That would connect it with two more Amtrak lines and give better access to FL from other states that are currently cut off by the missing segment or have no access.

Yea if you want to go to Jax from NO you have to got to Washington DC then come down the eastcoast! That is just so dumb!

[FayeforCure]

One of the common complaints about Amtrak is their on-time performance.  First, is it true? 
If it is, their use for commuter rail seems problematic.  Or is their on-time performance better in commuter operations?

This is where the extra $15 billion over five years is supposed to help.  The extra funding will allow Amtrak to help increase track capacity conditions to run a better overall service.  However, the corridor services do not appear to have the same on-time performance issues as the long distance trains.

Here is an interesting note on a service Amtrak does better:

I think I prefer Amtrak
August 27, 2009 10:01:55 EDT

This will probably be unexpected, but - having taken Amtrak to New York many, many times, and having just taken the TGV to Brussels (from Paris), I have to say that I prefer Amtrak. Sure, the TGV is faster. In every other way that I care about though, taking Amtrak is nicer:

Reclining Seats: Amtrak has them, 2nd class on the TGV doesn't
Power at the seats: Amtrak has that, TGV doesn't
Seats not set up in groups of four, two facing two: Amtrak is more like a 2x2 airline arangement
Would I like it if Amtrak ran faster on routes like DC to NY? Sure, but I like the simple amenities Amtrak has better than the speed of the TGV.

http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=I_think_I_prefer_Amtrak&entry=3428820115

[mtraininjax]

DC to NY trains are NE Corridor trains, would be my take. Sure they are nicer, Amtrak is playing to a different rider. Why can't amtrak add the same luxury to the Silver Meteor? I don't mind so much being late when taking the train, but I do mind sitting in cars that have not seen a remodel or vacuum since 1990. Most tour buses are more luxurious than your average coach car on an Amtrak train.

[FayeforCure]

DC to NY trains are NE Corridor trains, would be my take. Sure they are nicer, Amtrak is playing to a different rider. Why can't amtrak add the same luxury to the Silver Meteor? I don't mind so much being late when taking the train, but I do mind sitting in cars that have not seen a remodel or vacuum since 1990. Most tour buses are more luxurious than your average coach car on an Amtrak train.

Very true. Amtrak hasn't had sufficient funding to do the necessary upgrades. That's all changing now.

[CS Foltz]

Who listens to the public? I have heard about the tracks discontinued and report after report being printed and what do we have to show for it? Nothing! I know the reports did not cost anything at all since they were generated for free out of the goodness of their hearts but Yeegads! If we don't get some high level people involved in this or some people with some sense of public Ethics....we can hang it up! It will be nothing but talk! So how about it Charlie.......you want to be the next Senator from Florida, well show me your power! Stop the yada yada and spout some words that say something of merit..........say "I want some rail" and get it done!

[Ocklawaha]

I have to say, I have NEVER been on a dirty Amtrak train, or had rude service onboard. Some of the coaches were old, but that has pretty much gone by the wayside now. The new Viewliner cars are sweet, makes it easy to sleep. Food has always been good in the diner, and okay in the lounge...(too many pre made things). Bar service beats the hell out of anything the airlines have.

Let me add, for mtraininjax and a bunch of others on here, I would not trade the whole Amtrak system for the trains any one railroad operated before Amtrak. Even at a time when the railroads were accused of neglect in order to drive away passengers, the trains were better equipped, better maintined, and WAY better fed. Seaboard Coast Line, here in Jax. was wonderful. FEC even in the days of the tiny local to Miami, was nicer then most current trains. Shock of shocks for the railfans out there, is I was a regular on Southern Pacific's "POKEY" #51/52 daily LA to OAKLAND, The San Joaquin Daylights. Even the Espee, with it's horrible reputation, was better then today's trains. If we could just find a way to allow the railroads to get back in and make something out of this? My guess would be some form of tax relief based on number of trains, quality inspections, and number of routes or schedules offered, would put it over the top.

OCKLAWAHA

[Ocklawaha]

Florida is REALLY dedicated to this in the past:

Amtrak introduced the first Silver Palm as a single round trip service between Miami, Florida and Tampa, Florida on November 20, 1982. The train was subsidized by the Florida Department of Transportation as a 403(b) service. The train operated over the tracks of the Seaboard System Railroad between Miami and Tampa via Auburndale. The northbound train departed Miami in the morning and returned from Tampa in the afternoon. Travel time was approximately five hours in each direction. A bus connection was provided between Winter Haven and Orlando.

The Florida Department of Transportation attempted to end subsidies for the Silver Palm as of November 20, 1984. State law required that state-sponsored services maintain a farebox ratio of 60% to continue funding, and the Silver Palm did not attain that level. The Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers sued the state, arguing that the Department of Transportation had calculated the operating ratio incorrectly, and won at the district court level. This decision was overturned on appeal by the Florida First District Court of Appeal on March 28, 1985. The Silver Palm was discontinued on April 30, 1985.

The second Silver Palm was a long-distance passenger train between New York, New York and Miami, Florida. The service was an extension of the Palmetto route, which had operated between New York and Tampa, Florida. The renamed service began on November 10, 1996. The train reverted to the Palmetto name on May 1, 2002 after it lost sleeping and dining car service.

More victims, as recent as 2005 - Waldo, (Gainesville), Ocala, Wildwood, Dade City, Jax and Tpa.

Silver Palm discontinued: New York-Washington-Florence-Jacksonville-Ocala-Tampa-Miami.  Replaced by Palmetto:  New york-Washington-Florence-Savannah.  Silver Star changed to operate: New York-Washington-Columbia-Savannah-Jacksonville-Orlando-Lakeland-Tampa-Lakeland-Miami.  Service eliminated Jacksonville-Tampa via. Ocala, November 1, 2005

Just imagine what could be done with the high-speed rail dollars on a real railroad. Hey we might even be able to afford some advertising so the public would know we have trains.

OCKLAWAHA