Silver Star schedule change?

[SunnyDreams]

So first, thanks for all the great advice on Amtrak! I have really enjoyed reading these boards during my trip planning. I am taking the Silver Star up from Fl to NY next week and I was just alerted to a schedule change. Apparently we are now due in 1 hour earlier. This is great for me because I have to make a connection and I have been stressing about arriving too late for that. But it made me wonder how they can lose a whole hour on the route? Curious if any of you train travel veterans knew. Thanks!

 

[Barciur]

If that is really the case (although are you sure it is a full hour earlier?), then it is most likely padding change. Schedules are padded heavily in order to maintain reasonable On-Time-Performance, given that the railroads are private and AMTRAK does not have control over when it can pass through.

 

[user 1215]

POSTED IN TWO PLACES FOR CONVENIENCE...

The more I look at this, the wonkier it gets. The Meteor actually slows down this weekend, then speeds back up on the 12th. It goes from 26:46 tomorrow to 27:09 on Friday back to 26:46 on 3/29 then 26:32 on 4/6. On an interesting note, both Silvers are sold out from MIA to NYP on 4/10. Total time savings will be only 14 minutes compared to today on the Meteor.

The Star, on the other hand, goes from 31:28 tomorrow to 31:42 this weekend, then down to 30:52 on 4/6 for a savings of 36 minutes.

The final times seem to be consistent for the foreseeable future.

INTERESTINGLY, the arrival times for the station prior, TRENTON, NJ, the times shorten by 54 minutes for the Meteor and a whopping hour and 20 minutes earlier for the Star! Both have the same start times in Miami.

All the time gain isn't on the NEC, either. In Savannah, they are scheduled to arrive 10 minutes and 14 minutes earlier than today, respectively. In DC, 14 and 36 minutes earlier.

I cannot fathom the baggage cars being the only reason for this schedule improvement. Any other thoughts or ideas?

 

[Ryan]

More detail here:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/63622-revised-fare-receipt/

 

[xyzzy]

Starting April 7 the northbound Silver Star arrives New York 6:42 pm instead of 7:18 pm. Overall running time from Miami is reduced 36 minutes (that is, departure from Miami is unchanged). The schedule tightening is all in Florida.

 

[Palmetto]

At first, I thought these adjustments might be due to using the new V-II baggage cars, but then realized that the diners would still limit speed on the NEC to 110, so that's not the reason.

 

[jis]

At first, I thought these adjustments might be due to using the new V-II baggage cars, but then realized that the diners would still limit speed on the NEC to 110, so that's not the reason.

As will the Viewliner I Sleepers until they are upgraded. So count on several years before the higher speed can be realized.

 

[SunnyDreams]

It actually is my trip home so it is week after next. I double checked the change and it was supposed to arrive at 7:42 and now it is arriving at 6:48. Again- great for me if that actually happens, but I am just confused why they wouldn't just keep the padding since they are so often arriving late. Why not have happy customers who are early for their connections if the time change is just padding. I am wondering if they eliminated some stops? Seems too close to the date to do that, but I guess if the train is sold out and no one is booked for those stops they could possibly just eliminate stopping there at all. Just interesting. Made me wonder how that could happen.

 

[xyzzy]

There have been many delays in Florida because of track work associated with the SunRail project around Orlando. That seems to have settled out, and the padding can be removed from the schedule.

 

[niemi24s]

INTERESTINGLY, the arrival times for the station prior, TRENTON, NJ, the times shorten by 54 minutes for the Meteor and a whopping hour and 20 minutes earlier for the Star! Both have the same start times in Miami.

Could some of that apparent incongruity be due to the different routes they take through the Carolinas?

 

[chrsjrcj]

Starting April 7 the northbound Silver Star arrives New York 6:42 pm instead of 7:18 pm. Overall running time from Miami is reduced 36 minutes (that is, departure from Miami is unchanged). The schedule tightening is all in Florida.

They actually added time in Florida. The Meteor arrives JAX 4 minutes later, and the Star arrives 6 minutes later. Palatka is 10 minutes later for the Meteor and 6 minutes later for the Star.

Going south they removed a lot of the padding between WPB and MIA.

 

[afigg]

Don't forget that the Boston section of the Lake Shore Limited is also getting trip time trimmed from the BOS to ALB leg starting on Monday, April 6 with a shorter layover in ALB. Fairly strong indicator that a new system timetable is going to take effect on April 6. Good to see some reduction in scheduled trip times rather than additional padding added in response to congested freight lines.

 

[Bus Nut]

Starting April 7 the northbound Silver Star arrives New York 6:42 pm instead of 7:18 pm. Overall running time from Miami is reduced 36 minutes (that is, departure from Miami is unchanged). The schedule tightening is all in Florida.

SunRail related, then?

When Phase II construction starts they will add time again?

 

[Bus Nut]

Starting April 7 the northbound Silver Star arrives New York 6:42 pm instead of 7:18 pm. Overall running time from Miami is reduced 36 minutes (that is, departure from Miami is unchanged). The schedule tightening is all in Florida.

They actually added time in Florida. The Meteor arrives JAX 4 minutes later, and the Star arrives 6 minutes later. Palatka is 10 minutes later for the Meteor and 6 minutes later for the Star.

Going south they removed a lot of the padding between WPB and MIA.

So, Miami Intermodal Station, then? It was designed for Amtrak, but the design engineers screwed up. Does anybody know what the status is?

AAF is full speed ahead with their South Florida stations (on FEC, which Amtrak is not AFAIK).

I think there is just so much potential going unrealized in Florida for rail and rail/intermodal travel. Not everybody wants to spend all day in a car.

 

[acelafan]

Don't forget that the Boston section of the Lake Shore Limited is also getting trip time trimmed from the BOS to ALB leg starting on Monday, April 6 with a shorter layover in ALB. Fairly strong indicator that a new system timetable is going to take effect on April 6. Good to see some reduction in scheduled trip times rather than additional padding added in response to congested freight lines.

I vote for April 6th bringing a new system timetable. The Pacific Surfliners change that day, too.

 

[CHamilton]

Fairly strong indicator that a new system timetable is going to take effect on April 6.

I've seen the April 6 date for a new system timetable reported elsewhere.

 

[Palmetto]

I was going to start a thread on the Miami Intermodal Center, but instead will just post here to respond to Bus Nut.

As to Tri-Rail: they are supposed to begin serving MIC at the airport "in a few weeks", according to the media. As to Amtrak: still seems to be in limbo. I was by the MIC yesterday. Tri-Rail has a huge logo of theirs put up on the south side of the building. Amtrak has nothing. And we know the platforms there seem to be too short to accommodate an Amtrak trains, and one solution was to block off NW 25th Ave. on the north end of the station when Amtrak is using it. That will not be a pretty situation if they do that!!

 

[xyzzy]

Starting April 7 the northbound Silver Star arrives New York 6:42 pm instead of 7:18 pm. Overall running time from Miami is reduced 36 minutes (that is, departure from Miami is unchanged). The schedule tightening is all in Florida.

They actually added time in Florida. The Meteor arrives JAX 4 minutes later, and the Star arrives 6 minutes later. Palatka is 10 minutes later for the Meteor and 6 minutes later for the Star.

Going south they removed a lot of the padding between WPB and MIA.

You're correct. My bad. Don't know what I was thinking; I had checked times at amtrak.com so as not to shoot from the hip.

The NB Silver Star took out 14 minutes between Jacksonville and Savannah, 1 minute between Savannah and Raleigh, 5 minutes between Raleigh and Richmond, and 22 minutes between Richmond and DC. Time will tell whether the tightening will stand up.

 

[afigg]

I was going to start a thread on the Miami Intermodal Center, but instead will just post here to respond to Bus Nut.

As to Tri-Rail: they are supposed to begin serving MIC at the airport "in a few weeks", according to the media. As to Amtrak: still seems to be in limbo. I was by the MIC yesterday. Tri-Rail has a huge logo of theirs put up on the south side of the building. Amtrak has nothing. And we know the platforms there seem to be too short to accommodate an Amtrak trains, and one solution was to block off NW 25th Ave. on the north end of the station when Amtrak is using it. That will not be a pretty situation if they do that!!

No need to start a new thread on the Miami Central Station. We have an existing thread on MCS. The last update that I posted in late January was Tri-Rail is to move to MCS in the Spring, but Amtrak not until the summer of 2016.

 

[I always rode the Southern]

Starting April 7 the northbound Silver Star arrives New York 6:42 pm instead of 7:18 pm. Overall running time from Miami is reduced 36 minutes (that is, departure from Miami is unchanged). The schedule tightening is all in Florida.

They actually added time in Florida. The Meteor arrives JAX 4 minutes later, and the Star arrives 6 minutes later. Palatka is 10 minutes later for the Meteor and 6 minutes later for the Star.

Going south they removed a lot of the padding between WPB and MIA.

You're correct. My bad. Don't know what I was thinking; I had checked times at amtrak.com so as not to shoot from the hip.

The NB Silver Star took out 14 minutes between Jacksonville and Savannah, 1 minute between Savannah and Raleigh, 5 minutes between Raleigh and Richmond, and 22 minutes between Richmond and DC. Time will tell whether the tightening will stand up.

Got the call just a little while ago that the NB auto train (52) times are changed with arrival in Lorton at 8:59 am instead of 9:30

 

[fizzy1]

Just got email too. Arriving 5 mins earlier in Savannah. Oh joy !!!