51-477: The Silver Star is a temporarily discontinued long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a 1,522-mile (2,449 km) route between New York City and Miami via Washington, D.C. ; Richmond, Virginia ; Raleigh, North Carolina ; Columbia, South Carolina ; Savannah, Georgia ; Jacksonville, Florida ; and Tampa, Florida . The Silver Star and its sister train in the Silver Service brand,
102-602: A CSX freight train in Cayce, South Carolina ; the engineer and a conductor of the Silver Star were killed, and 116 passengers were injured. Since 2012, issues have prevented Amtrak from moving from their current station to the Miami Intermodal Center (MIC), primarily regarding the length of the platforms and lease agreements. Amtrak argued that the platforms were insufficient in length, as extra cars are normally added to
153-683: A brief period from 1994 to 1995 and from 1996 to 2004, when service to Tampa was provided by the Palmetto (known as the Silver Palm from 1996 to 2002), the Silver Star once served both Tampa and Miami during the Amtrak era. Originally, Amtrak operated the Silver Star with Tampa and Miami sections that split in Jacksonville, with the Tampa section continuing on the old Atlantic Coast Line route through Orlando, and
204-796: A daily service of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) in 1939, competing with the Silver Meteor of the Seaboard Air Line (SAL) on the New York–;Florida route. Initially just a New York-Miami service, the ACL added a section serving St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay area in 1941 once enough streamlined equipment was available. The train was rebranded as the Tamiami Champion, with
255-634: A radio-equipped lounge car was added to the train. Leaving Washington, trains used the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad to Richmond, Virginia , the north end of the ACL's main line. From Richmond, trains followed the Atlantic coast through Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida . Here the train split, with the West Coast section moving south then west through DeLand and Sanford on ACL rails to St. Petersburg, while
306-725: Is due to the availability of Tri-Rail , South Florida's commuter rail system. Since Amtrak ended passenger rail service over the CSX Clearwater Subdivision between Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida in February 1984, Amtrak Thruway bus service has been provided at Tampa Union Station for trainside transfer of passengers and their baggage to and from Clearwater, Florida and St. Petersburg. Other points on Florida's west coast, such as Bradenton, Florida , Sarasota, Florida , Port Charlotte, Florida and Fort Myers, Florida , are also served by Amtrak Thruway service connecting with
357-511: Is in place to keep seats available for passengers making longer trips. Passengers wanting to travel locally must use the more frequent Northeast Regional or Acela trains. Additionally, the Silver Star, like the Silver Meteor, does not allow local travel between West Palm Beach and Miami. Southbound trains only stop to discharge passengers, while northbound trains only stop to receive passengers bound for points beyond West Palm Beach. This
408-439: Is used between New York City and Washington, D.C., while two diesel-electric locomotives, either GE P42DC or Siemens ALC-42 locomotives, are used for power south of Washington, D.C. Amtrak began replacing the older P42DC locomotives with ALC-42 locomotives in 2023. A typical Silver Star consist as of September 2024 would be made up of: During the 2022 suspension of the Silver Meteor , some coach and sleeping cars usually on
459-651: The City of Miami and South Wind streamliners to and from Chicago on its Jacksonville– Tampa / Sarasota leg via Orlando and its Jacksonville–St. Petersburg section via Gainesville , Ocala and Clearwater . During its long successful career the Champion network reached virtually every major city and resort in the Sunshine State except Florida Panhandle cities like Pensacola and Tallahassee, which were served by Seaboard's Jacksonville–New Orleans overnight Gulf Wind . By
510-495: The Henry M. Flagler ). Each equipment set consisted of a baggage-dormitory-coach , four coaches, a dining car , and a tavern-lounge- observation car . In 1940–1941 Budd delivered additional equipment: three baggage-dorm-coaches, eight coaches, three dining cars, and three observation cars. The new equipment permitted the operation of an additional section between New York and St. Petersburg. Throughout its 40 years of service (1939–79)
561-536: The Silver Meteor , are the descendants of numerous long-distance trains that operated between Florida and New York for most of the 20th century. On November 10, 2024, Amtrak temporarily combined the Capitol Limited and Silver Star , producing a Chicago-Washington–Miami route, the Floridian . During fiscal year 2023, the Silver Star carried 351,732 passengers, a decrease of 19.1% from FY2022. In November 2023,
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#1732869512640612-662: The Silver Service brand – excluding two segments: Selma, North Carolina – Savannah, Georgia , and Kissimmee, Florida – Winter Haven, Florida . Between Selma and Savannah, the Silver Star takes an inland route over the CSX S-Line to serve the Carolinas' state capitals of Raleigh and Columbia, while the Silver Meteor stays closer to the coast on the CSX A-Line and serves Fayetteville, North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina . Between Kissimmee and Winter Haven,
663-578: The Budd Company and Pullman Standard built either just before or after World War II , and diesel-electric locomotives from the EMD E-unit series. These cars utilized steam heating provided by a steam generator in the locomotive. This equipment continued to operate when Amtrak took over in 1971. E-units were replaced by newer power, such as the steam generator-equipped EMD SDP40F by the mid 1970's. Amtrak began rebuilding their inherited passenger cars in
714-511: The Champion was always a big money maker and remained a fast, reliable, full service operation until Amtrak took over in 1971. ACL, SAL and SCL had maintained exceptionally high standards on its popular Florida streamliners while other railroads gave up on passenger service. According to former ACL/SCL/Amtrak train attendant James Longmire (now retired in Jacksonville, Florida), "The Champ was always packed and we didn't stop serving dinner until everyone got fed... no matter how long it took. We called
765-609: The East Coast section turned south south-east to run along Florida's east coast to Miami via the Florida East Coast Railway . Prior to the Civil Rights Movement , black passengers on the Champion and other trains running through the southern United States were restricted to the "colored" coach, a combination baggage/coach behind the diesel. African Americans ate behind a curtain at two designated tables next to
816-694: The East Coast Champion. The Gulf coast branch lines carried West Coast Champion thru-cars to three different Florida branches, one to St. Petersburg, a second to Tampa, Bradenton and Sarasota, and a third to Fort Myers and Naples . By April 1967 the Augusta branch was switched over to the Everglades and Palmetto trains. The East Coast Champion ran up and down the Florida East Coast Railway stopping at popular east coast resorts. In 1963
867-808: The North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina . In 1967, the Atlantic Coast Line merged with the Seaboard Air Line to form the Seaboard Coast Line , making the Champion a sister train to its longtime rivals, the Silver Meteor and Silver Star . Additionally, a few months after the merger, on September 4 northbound, and September 5 southbound, the East and West trains were consolidated into one. By December 1967,
918-555: The Silver Meteor and Silver Star during the winter season to accommodate increased demand. Tri-Rail began serving the MIC on April 5, 2015, and Greyhound began using the station on June 24, 2015. Amtrak had been expected to move to the MIC by the Fall of 2016, but in 2018 Amtrak rejected the terms of a lease agreement with FDOT and said it had no plans to move to the MIC. In 2021, Amtrak reached out to FDOT to begin negotiations again for utilization of
969-464: The Silver Meteor and the Silver Star "in early 2023." Following this announcement, beginning on northbound train 92 on March 15, 2023, traditional dining was reintroduced to the Silver Star for the first time since 2015. However, this was not a permanent rollout and was instead in the form of a 3-month pilot program gauged to test the success of the service. Southbound train 91 received the pilot on March 17. On June 24, 2023, traditional dining service
1020-529: The Silver Meteor makes an additional stop at Jesup, Georgia , while the Silver Star made no intermediate stops. However, during the 2022 suspension of the Silver Meteor, the Silver Star temporarily served Jesup. Prior to October 1986, the Silver Star operated between Petersburg, Virginia , and Raleigh via the CSX Norlina Subdivision , stopping only in Henderson, North Carolina . CSX abandoned
1071-488: The Silver Meteor turns south to go directly to Miami at Auburndale, Florida , while the Silver Star continues west to Lakeland, Florida and Tampa, before coming back to Auburndale and turning south to Miami. In addition to these diversions, between Sebring, Florida and West Palm Beach, Florida , the Silver Meteor makes no intermediate stops, while the Silver Star makes an additional stop at Okeechobee, Florida . Inversely, between Savannah and Jacksonville, Florida ,
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#17328695126401122-407: The Silver Meteor were combined into the Silver Star , creating a train with up to six coaches and five sleepers, in addition to the café-lounge, diner, and baggage car. The Silver Star operated over a combination of Amtrak, CSX Transportation (CSXT), and Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) trackage: The Silver Star used the same route as the Silver Meteor – the other train in
1173-415: The Silver Star and Silver Meteor ) in 1988, the Silver Star was then the only passenger train serving Tampa. On July 1, 2015, the Silver Star's dining car was completely removed from the train's consist, a controversial decision that Amtrak rationalized with the idea that sleeping car passengers could obtain meals from the train's café-lounge car. However, on May 1, 2020, the Silver Star's dining car
1224-580: The Silver Star at Jacksonville and Lakeland. [REDACTED] Media related to Silver Star (Amtrak train) at Wikimedia Commons Long-distance Amtrak routes Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.133 via cp1102 cp1102, Varnish XID 116328516 Upstream caches: cp1102 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 08:38:32 GMT Champion (train) The Champion
1275-612: The Silver Star at Tampa. Similarly, Amtrak has provided Amtrak Thruway bus service between the former stations along the CSX Wildwood Subdivision in North-Central Florida since November 2004 after passenger rail service ended, as well as Gainesville, Florida and The Villages-Lady Lake, Florida . The former stations that are now served by Amtrak Thruway buses are: Waldo, Florida , Ocala, Florida , Wildwood, Florida , and Dade City, Florida . These buses connect with
1326-561: The Silver Star provided a single once daily service between New York and Miami. On November 10, 2024, the Capitol Limited and Silver Star were merged into a Chicago–Washington–Miami service, the Floridian . The Floridian service is intended to be temporary to accommodate equipment shortages and planned rehabilitation work in the East River Tunnels . Under SAL operation, the Silver Star utilized passenger cars built by
1377-666: The Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor project, and reinstate its stop at Henderson, as well as adding a stop in La Crosse, Virginia . Like other long-distance trains operating on the Northeast Corridor, local travel between NEC stations is not allowed on the Silver Star . Northbound trains only stop to discharge passengers from Alexandria, Virginia northward, and southbound trains only stop to receive passengers from Newark, New Jersey to Washington. This policy
1428-516: The 1970s Amtrak would combine the Champion with its old rival the Silver Meteor . The first of these instances came in the summer of 1972: the train split in Savannah, Georgia , with the Champion section continuing to St. Petersburg and the renamed Meteor section passing west of Jacksonville via Thalmann, Georgia, and Callahan, Florida , on former Seaboard tracks to Miami. These combinations occurred again in 1975, 1976, and 1977, but with two changes:
1479-433: The ACL rerouted the East Coast Champion from the coastal FEC tracks to an interior ACL route through Sanford and Auburndale , a town adjacent to Winter Haven , and then on SAL tracks from Auburndale to West Palm Beach and then to Miami. At the outset, the Champion was an all-coach streamliner pulled by a diesel electric locomotive . Pullman sleeping cars were added by 1941. One Champion A-unit resides at
1530-601: The January 2011 issue of Trains magazine, this route was listed as one of five routes to be looked at by Amtrak in FY 2011 as the previous five routes (the Sunset Limited , Texas Eagle , California Zephyr , Capitol Limited , and Cardinal ) were examined in FY 2010. With the discontinuation of the Silver Meteor's former Tampa section (a descendant of the Champion , a longtime rival of
1581-778: The MIC in 2023. However, additional track area would need to be constructed for the Amtrak trains to turn back north, and as of 2024, Amtrak has no date indicated for when service will start at the MIC. On July 6, 2020, as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic , Amtrak reduced the frequency of this train to three times per week as opposed to daily. Southbound Silver Star trains departed New York Friday through Sunday, while Silver Meteor trains departed Monday through Thursday. Similarly, northbound Silver Star trains departed Miami on Thursday through Saturday, while Silver Meteor trains departed Sunday through Wednesday. Both trains resumed daily services on June 7, 2021, after additional Amtrak funding
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1632-530: The MIC, and in February 2022, negotiations officially restarted. Later in March 2022, a test train operated into and out of the station and proved that the platforms are sufficient in length to hold a standard 10 car train. However, the platforms are not long enough to accommodate an 11 to 12 car train, which could be possible in the winter months. In September 2022, Amtrak management announced that it had restarted lease negotiations with FDOT regarding use and maintenance of
1683-572: The Miami section traveling through Ocala and Wildwood over most of what was the original Seaboard route to Miami. After November 1, 2004, the Silver Star resumed service to Tampa, and traveled intact all of the way, backing out of Tampa and retracing its route 40 miles (64 km) east to Auburndale , where it heads south to Miami or north to New York. The detour occurs at Lakeland ; the train stops there to discharge passengers before going to Tampa and to receive passengers after it returns from Tampa. In
1734-638: The Norlina Subdivision between Norlina, North Carolina and Collier Yard (just south of Petersburg) in October 1986, which required the Silver Star to be rerouted over the CSX A-Line between Petersburg and Selma, then over the North Carolina Railroad between Selma and Raleigh. The Silver Star is to be rerouted via its former routing when tracks between Petersburg and Norlina are rebuilt as part of
1785-642: The St. Petersburg section called the Tamiami Champion (West Coast) (91 northbound/92 southbound), and the Miami section called the Tamiami Champion (East Coast) (1 northbound/2 southbound). In 1943 the names became East Coast Champion and West Coast Champion. Southbound trains originated in New York's Pennsylvania Station , and traveled south over the Pennsylvania Railroad -owned Northeast Corridor through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C. There,
1836-526: The arrangement with its sister train, the Silver Meteor. The agreement was maintained when the PRR was folded into Penn Central Transportation in 1968, a year after SAL merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL). Between Washington and Richmond, Virginia , the train operated on RF&P rails. Amtrak took over the train in 1971. Except for
1887-591: The early 1960s the West Coast Champion also had different sections north of Florida: in Wilson, North Carolina a section branched southeast to Wilmington, North Carolina and in Florence, South Carolina a branch left bound for Augusta, Georgia. However, these through services were only offered southbound. By 1966 these Augusta service was offered northbound also. In 1967 these sections to Wilmington and Augusta shifted over
1938-566: The formal rollout in another interview with the Rail Passengers Association, Amtrak's vice president of long-distance service stated that Coach Class access to the dining car was planned to be allowed by the end of 2023, however by January 2024 coach passengers still did not have access. On March 4, 2024, dining car access was finally expanded to coach passengers, mirroring service on Amtrak's western long-distance trains. On February 4, 2018, Silver Star train number 91 collided with
1989-565: The kitchen of the dining car, but were barred from the observation-tavern-lounge on the rear of the train. Racial segregation on trains serving the South persisted even though the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), U. S. courts, and President Harry S. Truman 's 1948 mandate (banning segregation in railroad dining cars) had ordered interstate carriers to desegregrate. By 1955 the West Coast Champion began hauling thru-cars for
2040-431: The late 1970's to utilize Head-end power (HEP); these rebuilt cars were known as the " Heritage Fleet ." The train began using Heritage Fleet equipment on March 10, 1982, and subsequently HEP-equipped EMD F40PH locomotives. The Silver Star used Amtrak's standard long-distance single-level equipment: Viewliner baggage, sleeping, and dining cars, and Amfleet coach and café-lounge cars. An ACS-64 electric locomotive
2091-408: The name was simplified to the Champion, with the Miami and southeast Florida destinations eliminated, as the formerly SAL trains, the Silver Meteor and Silver Star had those responsibilities. Nonetheless, the Champion continued to have three different sections south of Jacksonville, simultaneously bound for different aforementioned Gulf Coast destinations from the ACL years. The Sarasota section
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2142-550: The split occurred at Jacksonville, and the Meteor again became the Silver Meteor . In 1978, the United States Department of Transportation recommended the consolidation of New York - Florida services, leading to the permanent consolidation of the Champion into the Silver Meteor in October 1979, serving as the Silver Meteor's Tampa section. Although there were indications that the Champion name would be preserved, it
2193-447: The terminal. One issue however, is the deadheading move that will need to take place between the MIC and Hialeah. Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner has stated that "the company is evaluating technical and operational aspects of the move." In an Amtrak Public Board Meeting Q&A on December 1, 2022, it was revealed that Amtrak was in the final stages of its preparations for relocating from their current Miami station, and had planned to relocate to
2244-586: The train had a total revenue of $ 8.7 million. The Silver Star was originally a service of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL), running from New York to Miami and later also St. Petersburg (beyond Tampa). It was previously known as the Advance Silver Meteor , and was renamed on December 12, 1947, after the name was chosen by SAL in a contest. From 1947 to 1948, it was winter-only and did not appear in summer timetables. By 1949, however, it
2295-492: Was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Florida East Coast Railway between New York City and Miami or St. Petersburg, Florida . It operated from 1939 until 1979, continuing under the Seaboard Coast Line and Amtrak . It was a direct competitor to the Seaboard Air Line Railway 's Silver Meteor , the first New York-Florida streamliner. The Champion started as
2346-458: Was a year-round train. Its main Miami-bound route went through the interior of Florida, via Ocala and Winter Haven . In peak winter service in the mid-1950s it had a section that went to St. Petersburg via Tampa . Another section went to Port Boca Grande via Tampa. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) carried the train between New York and Washington, D.C. under a haulage agreement, similar to
2397-494: Was dropped altogether with the October 1, 1979, timetable. The Silver Meteor continued to operate the Tampa section until 1994, when it was discontinued. The western terminus of the Tampa section, however, was cut back to Tampa from St. Petersburg in February 1984. The Budd Company delivered three identical equipment sets for the Champion ; the ACL owned two and the FEC the third (the FEC received an additional matching set which became
2448-486: Was extended the next year to Venice . The Champion remained as a New York–St. Petersburg service, numbered #91 southbound and #92 northbound. When Amtrak assumed control of most of the passenger rail service in the United States in 1971, the Champion was retained as a New York–St. Petersburg service (#85/87) operating over the same line it had for the past thirty-two years. On several occasions throughout
2499-407: Was formally launched on the Silver Star , as well as on northbound Silver Meteor train 98, and the Silver Star pilot program was replaced by permanent service. Southbound train 97 received traditional dining on June 26. However, coach passengers were not allowed access to the dining car on either the Silver Meteor or Silver Star , unlike on Amtrak's western long-distance trains. Shortly after
2550-595: Was included in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 . Between January 24 and October 14, 2022, the Silver Star temporarily added a station stop in Jesup, Georgia due to the suspension of its sister train, the Silver Meteor , which is normally the only train that stops at that station. This was due to a resurgence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 as well as a further delay caused by Hurricane Ian . During this period
2601-415: Was returned, and Amtrak introduced the “flexible dining” system to the train, which consists of pre-prepared meals which are then heated in either a convection oven or a microwave oven at the time of purchase. In a Rail Passengers Association webinar that took place on November 16, 2022, Amtrak's vice president of long-distance service revealed that traditional dining service was planned to be reintroduced on
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