Green Maned Lion
Engineer
Thats right!
Now I'm gonna get real picky, how bout St Pete to Sarasota roundtrip? :huh:Thats right!
When you try to select a TPA-Sarasota thruway bus trip, it includes the "book with train" requirement, so you can't book it by itself.What "Book With Train" Means
In certain circumstances, state law requires that trips booked on Amtrak.com include at least one segment where you travel by train (rather than by Thruway bus).
If you select a segment marked with the text "Book With Train", you must also select at least one other segment of your trip where you travel by train.
We apologize for any inconvenience. For additional assistance, please call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).
According to the Amtrak Reservations website, you cannot book the thruway bus independent of a rail segment. So you could not do a TPA-Sarasota, or Sarasota-Ft. Myers one way or round trip. It MUST include a segment of travel by rail. Presumably that would also apply to the railpass.
When you try to select a TPA-Sarasota thruway bus trip, it includes the "book with train" requirement, so you can't book it by itself.What "Book With Train" Means
In certain circumstances, state law requires that trips booked on Amtrak.com include at least one segment where you travel by train (rather than by Thruway bus).
If you select a segment marked with the text "Book With Train", you must also select at least one other segment of your trip where you travel by train.
We apologize for any inconvenience. For additional assistance, please call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).
Unless you want to talk to a station agent or the 800 Amtrak number and specifically ask, my best guess is that you cannot use the pass for bus-only travel. Where I find that problematic is if you wanted to travel between, say, Lakeland and Ocala, which is a bus segment that has replaced the Silver Palm / Palmetto route. Technically that is a station pair that you used to be able to travel on the Palmetto. But if you try to book just the bus from TPA to Ocala, or Lakeland to Ocala, you find that TPA-Ocala does not exist as an available route, and Lakeland-Ocala requires a "book with train". So apparently Amtrak is not allowed to handle passengers within Florida by bus alone - they MUST include a rail travel segment. For instance, I can book Winter Haven-Ocala, which means Winter Haven to Lakeland on 92 and then the bus to Ocala. But Lakeland to Ocala per se is not something you can book. Another quirk in the Amtrak system is that you CANNOT book Lakeland-TPA or TPA-Lakeland. They will not sell you a ticket for that rail segment, in either direction. If you are on 92, you can get off at Lakeland on the way TO Tampa but you can NOT get off at Lakeland on the way FROM Tampa. On 91, you can get off at Lakeland on the way TO Tampa, but you can NOT get off at Lakeland on the way FROM Tampa.
For those reading this that are scratching their heads, trains 91/92 make a dog-leg; Northbound on 92 from Miami, after Winter Haven (WTH) it goes west through Lakeland, turns around at TPA, comes back east through Lakeland again, and then heads on north through the Orlando corridor and eventually to New York. 91 (originating in New York) comes south through the Orlando corridor, then west through Lakeland, turns around at Tampa, comes back east through Lakeland again, and then heads south to Winter Haven and eventually through to Miami.
They do this because the Silver Palm (later the Palmetto without the sleepers) used to run from Miami up through Winter Haven,west through to Tampa, then up north in the center of the State, including Wildwood, Ocala, Waldo (east of Gainesville, home of U.F. Gators) and on up to Jax and eventually New York. It did NOT serve the Orlando corridor. That route, as I understand it, was primarily run to handle bulk mail for the Post Office, and Amtrak decided the Mail contract wasn't worth the hassle, so they stopped carrying mail through there and truncated the Palmetto to the current New York - Savannah route. They then realized they had shot themselves in the foot because Tampa was a high passenger-count station and they had just left it high and dry except for a bus connection, and they decided to add the dog-leg to the Silver Star (91/92) so that Tampa would continue to have genuine rail service.
For Orlando-corridor residents, (like us) this is great, because it gives us Orlando-Tampa-Orlando rail service that did not exist.
For those reading this that are scratching their heads, trains 91/92 make a dog-leg; Northbound on 92 from Miami, after Winter Haven (WTH) it goes west through Lakeland, turns around at TPA, comes back east through Lakeland again, and then heads on north through the Orlando corridor and eventually to New York. 91 (originating in New York) comes south through the Orlando corridor, then west through Lakeland, turns around at Tampa, comes back east through Lakeland again, and then heads south to Winter Haven and eventually through to Miami.
How about if you book from Miami or Orlando through Tampa to Sarasota or Ft. Myers?According to the Amtrak Reservations website, you cannot book the thruway bus independent of a rail segment. So you could not do a TPA-Sarasota, or Sarasota-Ft. Myers one way or round trip. It MUST include a segment of travel by rail. Presumably that would also apply to the railpass.
This like being a rookie with a new play book!!!How about if you book from Miami or Orlando through Tampa to Sarasota or Ft. Myers?According to the Amtrak Reservations website, you cannot book the thruway bus independent of a rail segment. So you could not do a TPA-Sarasota, or Sarasota-Ft. Myers one way or round trip. It MUST include a segment of travel by rail. Presumably that would also apply to the railpass.
Surely that ticket (train plus bus) could be issued, and "free" with the Railpass.
Then what if you just happen not to use all of the tickets you were issued?
What does IIRC mean?IIRC, the Florida Pass is not a booked service, so I can't imagine how they could enforce the Thruway rules.
If I Remember CorrectlyWhat does IIRC mean?
For Orlando-corridor residents, (like us) this is great, because it gives us Orlando-Tampa-Orlando rail service that did not exist.
True. I am sure that schedule had someting to do with it as well. But even when the S-line was served with daylight service with connections at WTH for the FL West Coast, there never really was a large market for TPA area on the S-line since the begining of and during Amtrak's days. Now OTH back in the day, ACL had a good FL West Coast business with some of its trackage on that side of the state. But still the largest amount of the long distance traffic was routed via the current A-line. Now the SAL sped majority of its traffic towards the MIA area with a small amount of traffic bound for the West Coast. In which I still say it was a sin for CSX to pull the route of the old "Meteor" up via between Coleman and Aurburndale straight through to WTH-MIA.Of course the time of day when the Star and Meteor come through Orlando is a lot more civilized than the middle-of-the-night Silver Palm/Palmetto was, and I suspect that had something to do with it as well. But we're still very happy to once again have service direct from the Orlando Corridor to Tampa, especially with the later 92 schedule change that gives us several hours in Tampa for a day trip. It's been a long time since that service existed.
Are they kidding me?? How could the state's own DOT not know there hasnt been rail service in the area for the last 3 years now!!!!Amtrak travel between the two cities (Orlando and Pensacola). Please visit their Web site:http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServe...Amtrak/HomePage
:blink:Must have been an old map. To my knowledge DOT has no plans for passenger rail service.
The lack of this route is why changing the freight trains from the A Line to the S Line as part of the Orlando Commuter service puts them going through Lakeland. If it were still in place, the diverted freight trains would never get witnin hearing distance of Lakeland.In which I still say it was a sin for CSX to pull the route of the old "Meteor" up via between Coleman and Aurburndale straight through to WTH-MIA.
What are the chances of Amtrak splitting the Star or the Meteor in Jacksonville and running the Tampa section through Orlando and the Miami section through Wildwood/Ocala. I know they used to do this before the Palm was introduced as I vividly remember watching the switching operation several times in Jax when I was a little boy.According to the Amtrak Reservations website, you cannot book the thruway bus independent of a rail segment. So you could not do a TPA-Sarasota, or Sarasota-Ft. Myers one way or round trip. It MUST include a segment of travel by rail. Presumably that would also apply to the railpass.
When you try to select a TPA-Sarasota thruway bus trip, it includes the "book with train" requirement, so you can't book it by itself.What "Book With Train" Means
In certain circumstances, state law requires that trips booked on Amtrak.com include at least one segment where you travel by train (rather than by Thruway bus).
If you select a segment marked with the text "Book With Train", you must also select at least one other segment of your trip where you travel by train.
We apologize for any inconvenience. For additional assistance, please call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).
Unless you want to talk to a station agent or the 800 Amtrak number and specifically ask, my best guess is that you cannot use the pass for bus-only travel. Where I find that problematic is if you wanted to travel between, say, Lakeland and Ocala, which is a bus segment that has replaced the Silver Palm / Palmetto route. Technically that is a station pair that you used to be able to travel on the Palmetto. But if you try to book just the bus from TPA to Ocala, or Lakeland to Ocala, you find that TPA-Ocala does not exist as an available route, and Lakeland-Ocala requires a "book with train". So apparently Amtrak is not allowed to handle passengers within Florida by bus alone - they MUST include a rail travel segment. For instance, I can book Winter Haven-Ocala, which means Winter Haven to Lakeland on 92 and then the bus to Ocala. But Lakeland to Ocala per se is not something you can book. Another quirk in the Amtrak system is that you CANNOT book Lakeland-TPA or TPA-Lakeland. They will not sell you a ticket for that rail segment, in either direction. If you are on 92, you can get off at Lakeland on the way TO Tampa but you can NOT get off at Lakeland on the way FROM Tampa. On 91, you can get off at Lakeland on the way TO Tampa, but you can NOT get off at Lakeland on the way FROM Tampa.
For those reading this that are scratching their heads, trains 91/92 make a dog-leg; Northbound on 92 from Miami, after Winter Haven (WTH) it goes west through Lakeland, turns around at TPA, comes back east through Lakeland again, and then heads on north through the Orlando corridor and eventually to New York. 91 (originating in New York) comes south through the Orlando corridor, then west through Lakeland, turns around at Tampa, comes back east through Lakeland again, and then heads south to Winter Haven and eventually through to Miami.
They do this because the Silver Palm (later the Palmetto without the sleepers) used to run from Miami up through Winter Haven,west through to Tampa, then up north in the center of the State, including Wildwood, Ocala, Waldo (east of Gainesville, home of U.F. Gators) and on up to Jax and eventually New York. It did NOT serve the Orlando corridor. That route, as I understand it, was primarily run to handle bulk mail for the Post Office, and Amtrak decided the Mail contract wasn't worth the hassle, so they stopped carrying mail through there and truncated the Palmetto to the current New York - Savannah route. They then realized they had shot themselves in the foot because Tampa was a high passenger-count station and they had just left it high and dry except for a bus connection, and they decided to add the dog-leg to the Silver Star (91/92) so that Tampa would continue to have genuine rail service.
For Orlando-corridor residents, (like us) this is great, because it gives us Orlando-Tampa-Orlando rail service that did not exist.
But on a high note, at least Amtrak still maintains rights to that trackage should they ever want to restore train service. Anytime soon? That is doubtful, but it is still possible as long as there is an "active" Amtrak service over there in place of the original operation.so I don't think trying to start running passenger trains through on the S-Line would work very well at that point as far as OTP is concerned.
Is this as opposed to running a light rail (in conjunction with Lynx) down the I-4 corridor? Are there plans for stops at the parks? I know one of the big issues with the (now-dead) bullet train was Disney's requirement that either the bullet train stopped ONLY at Disney and not on I-Drive, or not at Disney at all. <_<There is a strong move on to begin an Orlando-commuter-train-corridor (Deland through Orlando to south of Kissimmee, using the existing CSX track), and CSX is planning much heavier freight traffic on the old S-Line (the old Palm/Palmetto route past Ocala), by rerouting a lot of the existing freight traffic that runs through Orlando, so I don't think trying to start running passenger trains through on the S-Line would work very well at that point as far as OTP is concerned.