Summary
Starting Nov. 10, Amtrak will launch the “Floridian” line, a new daily service from Chicago to Miami.
The route merges Amtrak’s Capitol Limited and Silver Star lines due to ongoing repairs on the East River tunnel damaged by Superstorm Sandy.
The journey spans nearly 48 hours, with stops in Cleveland, Washington D.C., Orlando, and Tampa.
Coach tickets start at just over $100, while private rooms with added amenities like dining car meals, turndown service, and showers begin at $700. Café snacks and a dining car with various meal options are available.
Nobody except the few dedicated train fans. The government requires and subsidizes just enough that it exists, but hardly anyone actually uses it. If you can fly you do, if not you take a bus.
It’s quite useful in the one part of the country where the service is good: the Northeast Corridor. It makes traveling by plane downright stupid in a lot of cases. If only more of country’s rail were even that good, which isn’t even a high bar to clear.
Yes, the Acela service makes a lot of sense. But even that is limited by poor track conditions.
And CSX, but you’re not wrong
You aren’t wrong, but you are being a little unfair to Amtrak. You always see people saying the same thing about amtrak and other forms of public transit as well as services like the post office. Yes, amtrak receives subsidies, but prior to covid, they had a 99% farebox recovery ratio, i.e., 99% of the cost of a ride is covered by the fare, and the remaining 1% by subsidy. Covid dropped travel numbers across the board, but they are still forecasting 86% for this year
Compared to the interstate highway system, which is covered 0% by fares, Amtrak is performing incredibly efficiently. By mentioning that amtrak is subsidized, you are insinuating that driving is not.