Amtrak on the Florida East Coast FEC Jacksonville - Miami

west point wrote:jp: The Star's biggest market and the one that causes it to carry more passenger than the Meteor is Tampa - South Florida. That is not something to dismiss.
TPA boarding much higher than ATL.

I don't argue that the Silver Star has a lot to do with Tampa.......or vice versa!

Tampa is a big factor for Amtrak trains 91 and 92. I rode in and out of Tampa a few years ago and was amazed at the folks who got on and off the train there. I talked to a friend who took the train there last month and she said the same thing, a lot got off and a lot more got on. Do not write Tampa off.
Noel Weaver

Rode the Star last year and the conductor mentioned that Tampa business was booming. He said Tampa wasn't that busy a few years ago but definitely things have changed.

Looks like Amtrak on the FEC has been preempted by new programming. New Topic in the FEC forum:

The Real Deal

Brightline rail service may extend to Jacksonville

The company that is preparing to launch passenger rail service next year between Miami and Orlando via Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach eventually may extend the service to Jacksonville.

All Aboard Florida (AAF), which expects to launch its Brightline passenger rail service by mid-2017, has formed an affiliated company called AAF Jacksonville Segment LLC.

AAF formed the affiliated company to secure rights to run a passenger rail service on the Florida East Coast Railway line between Jacksonville and Cocoa, located east of Orlando in the Cape Canaveral area.

AAF will be looking for ways to expand the Brightline rail service as soon as it begins, according to Mike Reininger, the company’s president and chief development officer.
...

There's more talk about the Jacksonville Intermodal Center, etc.

Although most of the attention has been on Virgin/Brightline, some of the work proposed and planned for Jacksonville may be used to entice Amtrak back downtown to the old terminal: WJCT.org

...
These improvements could also open the door for bringing passenger rail back downtown. Restoring rail service to the Prime F. Osborn Convention Center — built as the Jacksonville Union Terminal— has long been a dream of downtown and transit advocates. The grand building in LaVilla was the country’s largest passenger station south of Washington, D.C. when it opened in 1919, serving 20,000 passengers a day. In 1974, declining use led Amtrak to move its services five miles northwest to a much smaller building colorfully known as an “Amshack.”
...
The project would also open up possibilities for Amtrak, which currently doesn’t use the FEC tracks through Jacksonville. New infrastructure could be the catalyst needed to return Amtrak to its rightful place in the Prime Osborn. If successful, JTA’s project could ultimately bring commuter rail and two intercity systems to Jacksonville’s transit center.
...

I guess this would require a short backup move for Silver Service trains except if they finally bring back FEC service which should be a no-brainer along the east coast. I have never seen anything about Brightline building a NW leg of a wye to create Jacksonville-Orlando-Tampa service but maybe that should be in the mix now and maybe Amtrak can use it somehow too.

Thanks for posting this. I never knew about that beautiful station but it would be incredible to see it reactivated for train service.

I think that Amtrak should move their Miami station to Miami Central from way out in suburbia.

benboston wrote:I think that Amtrak should move their Miami station to Miami Central from way out in suburbia.

That's way too logical. Everybody's been wondering if they're ever going to move to their station over at the airport.

Miami Amtrak station should be at the Brightline station, not in the beautiful Hialeah warehouse district. Amtrak should also be able to run a train from Jacksonville to Miami, along the East Coast for people going to the Northeast

I think the idea of a Silver going down the FEC to Miami from Jax has sailed. That said, nothing's stopping Brightline/Virgin

There is no plan to build a NW wye connection to Orlando, right? I think they should consider that also.

There was some talk of reconnecting Amtrak to the FEC to bring it into Jax; not sure what that involves.

Do you see a little Pennsylvania Station in that architecture?

There are also serious plans to reactivate the old surviving and majestic Jacksonville Union Terminal. This is located just south of the switch that Amtrak now uses to turn west after stopping at the present Amtrak Station so heading down the FEC would make even more sense.

https://www.metrojacksonville.com/artic ... n-terminal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm sorry to learn that JT has not been a thriving success as part of the Convention Center (named for a prior SCL CEO who only reluctantly signed up on A-Day). The rail infrastructure is there including a bridge over the St. Johns.

If Brightline is to move forth, then there could be conflict for "slots" with the FEC Train Dispatcher. Further, it seems to me that since '11, when at least the advocacy faction thought there was a "done deal", nothing further has happened. If a passenger train is again to use JT, most likely such will be Brightline.

If the trains were to go from the FEC to Orlando and Tampa it'd be embarrassing for Amtrak because the tracks will be just as fast as the NEC, but smoother.