Silver Meteor

Silver Meteor

A Florida-bound Silver Meteor passes through
Elizabeth, New Jersey with AEM-7 924.
The AEM-7 will be replaced by a diesel powered P42
in Washington, D.C. for the remainder of the trip south.
Overview
Service type Inter-city rail
First service May 1, 1971
Current operator(s) Amtrak
Former operator(s) Seaboard Air Line Railroad
Average ridership 965 daily
352,286 total (FY10)[1]
Route
Start New York City
End Miami, Florida
Distance travelled 1,389 miles (2,235 km)
Train number(s) 97-98
Technical
Rolling stock
Track owner(s) Amtrak, CSX

The Silver Meteor is a 1389-mile (2235 km) passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Silver Service brand, running from New York City, New York, south to Miami, Florida, via the Northeast Corridor to Washington, D.C., thence via Richmond, Virginia; Fayetteville, North Carolina; North Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Jesup, Georgia; Jacksonville, Florida and Orlando, Florida.

The Silver Meteor shares much of its track with the Silver Star, which runs further west through North Carolina and South Carolina and detours to serve Tampa, Florida. The Palmetto uses the same tracks as the Silver Meteor for its whole length, terminating in Savannah, Georgia.

During fiscal year 2010, the Silver Meteor carried a total of 352,286 passengers, a 6.5% increase FY 2009's total of 330,734 passengers.[1] The train had a total revenue of $35,271,821 during FY 2010, an 8.1% increase from FY 2009's total of $32,640,978.[1]

Contents

Consist

The Silver Meteor uses a variety of different locomotives. On the Northeast Corridor north of Washington, it uses one of Amtrak's electric locomotives, the EMD AEM-7 and the HHP-8. South of Washington, it uses two P42DC diesel electric locomotives.

A typical Silver Meteor train consists of the following cars:

History

The Silver Meteor was originally a train of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL), placed in service on February 2, 1939.[2] "Silver Meteor" was the winning entry of a young African American named James Harvey Talley from La Crosse, Virginia. The train was operated between New York, NY, and Washington, DC, by the Pennsylvania Railroad under a haulage agreement. Between Washington and Richmond, it used the tracks of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, jointly owned by the SAL and five other railroads for the use of all. From Richmond south, the SAL's own trackage was used, running via Raleigh, North Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida and Ocala, Florida. Until the late 1960s, the Silver Meteor split at Wildwood, Florida, with one section continuing to Miami, Florida, and the other serving St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Venice on Florida's west coast.

The SAL merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in 1967, and on May 28, 1968 the Silver Meteor began serving only Miami (the similarly-routed Silver Star then served only St. Petersburg). Amtrak continued to operate the Silver Meteor when it took over operations on May 1, 1971; on November 14, the numbers 83 (southbound) and 84 (northbound) were assigned.

From December 17, 1971, to April 15, 1972, and September 10, 1972 to April 27, 1973, the Silver Meteor bypassed Jacksonville, running over the track between the Georgia state line and Baldwin, Florida. Between June 11 and September 10, 1972, the Silver Meteor was extended to Boston and called the Meteor. Service to St. Petersburg was also returned, with the train splitting at Auburndale.

On September 30, 1979, the Silver Meteor was rerouted between Savannah and Jacksonville over the former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad route, due to the abandonment of the old SAL route. On January 31, 1984, the Silver Meteor's Florida west coast terminus was cut back from St. Petersburg to Tampa , thus ending almost 100 years of rail passenger service to St. Petersburg. By October 26, 1986, the Silver Meteor had shifted to the old ACL route north of Savannah, as the abandonment of the SAL route north of Raleigh affected only the Silver Star. On June 11, 1988, the tracks between Coleman and Auburndale, Florida were abandoned, shifting the Miami section west to Lakeland.

By the end of 1988, the numbers assigned were 87 and 88 (to Tampa) and 97 and 98 (to Miami). The Tampa trips were later dropped, and 97 and 98 are still used.

The best timing for Amtrak's Silver Meteor between Miami and New York City was 27 hours in 2008 whereas SAL's first edition took only 25 hours in 1939, almost 70 years ago. Late trains routinely add even more hours to today's schedules.

In 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 (Sunset, Eagle, Zephyr, Capitol, and Cardinal) were examined in FY 2010.[3]

Route details

The Silver Meteor operates over Amtrak and CSX Transportation trackage:

Station stops

State Town/City Station Connections
New York New York City Penn Station Amtrak: Acela Express, Adirondack, Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Keystone Service, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Silver Star, Vermonter
Long Island Rail Road: Main Line, Port Washington Branch
New Jersey Transit: North Jersey Coast Line, Northeast Corridor Line, Gladstone Branch, Montclair-Boonton Line, Morristown Line
NYC Subway: 1 2 3 A C E trains
NYC Transit buses: M4, M7, M20, M34 / M34A Select Bus Service, Q32
New Jersey Newark Penn Station Amtrak: Acela Express, Cardinal, Carolinian, Crsecent, Keystone Service, Northeast Regional, Pennsylvanian, Silver Star, Vermonter
NJ Transit: Newark City Subway/Newark Light Rail, North Jersey Coast Line, Northeast Corridor Line, Raritan Valley Line, 1, 5, 21, 34, 40, 62, 67, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76, 78, 79, 108, 308, 319
PATH: NWK-WTC
Coach USA: 31, 44
Trenton, New Jersey Trenton Transit Center Amtrak: Acela Express, Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Keystone Service, Northeast Regional, Pennsylvanian, Silver Star, Vermonter
NJ Transit: Northeast Corridor Line, River Line, 409, 418, 600, 601, 604, 606, 608, 609, 611, 619
SEPTA Regional Rail: Trenton Line
SEPTA Suburban Transit Division: 127
Pennsylvania Philadelphia Philadelphia 30th Street Station Amtrak: Acela Express, Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Keystone Service, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Silver Star, Vermonter
NJ Transit: Atlantic City Line
SEPTA City Transit Division: Market-Frankford Line, SEPTA Subway-Surface Trolley Lines (Route 10, Route 11, Route 13, Route 34, Route 36), 9, 30, 31, 44, 62, 121, 316
SEPTA Suburban Transit Division: 124, 125
SEPTA Regional Rail: Airport Line, Warminster Line, Wilmington/Newark Line, West Trenton Line, Media/Elwyn Line, Lansdale/Doylestown Line, Paoli/Thorndale Line, Manayunk/Norristown Line, Cynwyd Line, Trenton Line, Chestnut Hill East Line, Chestnut Hill West Line, Fox Chase Line
Delaware Wilmington Wilmington Amtrak: Acela Express, Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Silver Star, Vermonter
DART First State: 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 20, 21, 28, 32, 301
SEPTA Regional Rail: Wilmington/Newark Line
Maryland Baltimore Penn Station Amtrak: Acela Express, Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Silver Star, Vermonter
MARC Train: Penn Line
MTA Maryland: Light Rail, 3, 11, 61, 64
District of Columbia Washington Union Station Amtrak: Acela Express, Capitol Limited, Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Silver Star, Vermonter, Thruway Motorcoach to Charlottesville, Virginia
MARC Train: Brunswick Line, Camden Line, Penn Line
Metro: Red Line
Metrobus: Loudoun, OmniRid
VRE: Manassas Line, Fredericksburg Line
Virginia Alexandria Union Station Amtrak: Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Palmetto Northeast Regional, Silver Star
VRE: Fredericksburg Line, Manassas Line
Metro: Blue Line, Yellow Line
Richmond Staples Mill Road Station Amtrak: Carolinian, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Silver Star, Thruway Motorcoach to Charlottesville, Virginia
Petersburg Petersburg Amtrak: Carolinian, Palmetto, Silver Star
North Carolina Rocky Mount, North Carolina Rocky Mount Amtrak: Carolinian, Palmetto, Silver Star
Fayetteville Fayetteville Amtrak: Palmetto
South Carolina Florence Florence Amtrak: Palmetto
Kingstree Kingstree Amtrak: Palmetto
North Charleston North Charleston Amtrak: Palmetto
Yemassee Yemassee Amtrak: Palmetto
Georgia Savannah Savannah Amtrak: Palmetto, Silver Star
Jesup Jesup
Florida Jacksonville Jacksonville Amtrak: Silver Star, Thruway Motorcoach to Tampa
JTA: K2, M4
Palatka Palatka Amtrak: Silver Star
DeLand DeLand Amtrak: Silver Star
Winter Park Winter Park Amtrak: Silver Star
Orlando Orlando Amtrak: Silver Star, Thruway Motorcoach to Tampa
Lynx: 40
Kissimmee Kissimmee Amtrak: Silver Star
Lynx: 4
Winter Haven Winter Haven Amtrak: Silver Star
Sebring Sebring Amtrak: Silver Star
West Palm Beach West Palm Beach Amtrak: Silver Star
SFRTA: Tri-Rail
Palm Tran: 40, 43, 44, 45, 50
Delray Beach Delray Beach Amtrak: Silver Star
SFRTA: Tri-Rail
Palm Tran: 2, 70, 81
Deerfield Beach Deerfield Beach Amtrak: Silver Star
SFRTA: Tri-Rail
Broward County Transit: 48
Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale Amtrak: Silver Star
SFRTA: Tri-Rail
Miami-Dade Transit: 95 Express to Downtown Miami
Broward County Transit: 22
Hollywood Hollywood Amtrak: Silver Star
SFRTA: Tri-Rail
Broward County Transit: 7
Miami Miami Amtrak: Silver Star
SFRTA: Tri-Rail
Miami-Dade Transit: Miami Metrorail
Miami-Dade Transit Metrobus: 42, L
(Miami service will be moved to the Miami Central Station in 2012, with direct connections to Miami Metrorail, Miami International Airport, Tri-Rail, the MIA Mover, and Miami-Dade Transit bus lines.)

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ a b c "AMTRAK SETS NEW RIDERSHIP RECORD, THANKS PASSENGERS FOR TAKING THE TRAIN (link to PDF download)". Amtrak. 11 October 2010. http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer/Page/1237608337144/1237608345018?passedMonth=October&passedYear=2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010. 
  2. ^ Pacific Northwest Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, Stainless Steel Passenger Car, ex-Seaboard, Silver Meteor #6200
  3. ^ "Amtrak's Improvement Wish List", Trains, January 2011, 20-21.
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