Getting To Florida By Rail

Though most people tend to fly to Florida these days it is still possible to travel to Florida by rail and Amtrak ticket prices are very competitive.

An adult ticket from New York to Miami can be as low as $100 one way; return tickets are usually twice the single ticket price and Amtrak have weekly special deals with up to 70% discounts on some routes.

Florida Amtrak Services

The Amtrak Silver Star and Silver Meteor Service routes run daily down the eastern seaboard from New York to Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, Charleston, Savannah Jacksonville, Orlando and then on to Miami.

The Silver Star also goes via Tampa on the Gulf Coast and a Thruway motorcoach connection connects with some other Florida towns. The Palmetto service also starts in New York but these days it terminates in Savannah, Georgia.

Do bear in mind though that instead of a few hours flying time, you are looking at 24+ hours travelling time. In the most part, this is not European Intercity travel but it is relaxing, a great alternative to driving time and you get to see the wonderful countryside.

Another service on the east coast is the Amtrak Auto Train which runs from Lorton (just south of Washington DC) to Sanford daily and takes around 16 hours non stop. As its name suggests you can take your car, van, SUV or boat with you so you have the convenience of having your own car when you get to Florida but without all the stress of long distance driving.

If you are travelling from the west coast then there is the Amtrak Sunset Limited train from Los Angeles, via Houston and New Orleans to Orlando. It runs three times a week in each direction and takes nearly 3 days (68 hours) to cover the 2,500 miles.

Following the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, The Sunset Limited is currently only running between Los Angeles and New Orleans. Amtrak had hoped to resume the service into Florida in the Spring of 2006, but at this time there is no details of when the service will go beyond New Orleans.

All long distance train services offer a choice of accommodation including sleeping cars (coaches) and also provide other amenities such as viewing cars and dining cars.

Amtrak Rail Passes

As well as regular tickets you can also purchase a number of different rail passes if you intend to do a lot of rail travel.

The North America Rail Pass offers 30 consecutive days of travel across the USA and Canada with unlimited stopovers. The normal pass entitles you to Coach Class travel but you can upgrade to Business Class or Sleeping Car accommodations for an additional charge. The North America Rail Pass is available to anyone.

Amongst the conditions of travel is that you actually have to travel between Canada and the USA; you cannot restrict yourself to USA travel only. Also the pass is not valid on the Acela Express or the Auto Train.

International travellers can also purchase a USA Rail Pass (not available for US or Canadian residents) either for the Western region, Eastern region (including Florida), Northeast region or National for 15 or 30 days.

There are two ticket prices, peak periods including the summer and holiday season and off-peak.

The normal pass entitles you to Coach Class travel but you can upgrade to Business Class or Sleeping Car accommodations for an additional charge on some services.

The USA Rail Pass is valid for travel on all Amtrak trains except the Auto Train, Acela Express, Metroliner, certain Thruway motorcoach connections and the Canadian portion of trains operated jointly by Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada.

Amtrak Delays

Amtrak does not own most of the tracks on which they run, they share the tracks with the freight haulers who own the rails and as a result Amtrak services are often subject to delays as freight takes precedence.

Because of delays due to slow freight traffic, on time performance is down to 68%, its lowest since the 1970s.