Silver Star/Silver Meteor combined train (Jan - Oct 2022)

[finleyd]

I'm scheduled in car 9110 and 9210, with the combination of Silver Meteror are these the Viewliner 1 or 2 cars. I actually prefer the toilet in the room.

 

[jis]

I'm scheduled in car 9110 and 9210, with the combination of Silver Meteror are these the Viewliner 1 or 2 cars. I actually prefer the toilet in the room.

The 10, 12 and 14 cars are Viewliner II. 11 and 13 are Viewliner I. That is usually the case. There have been occasional runs where one of the Viewliner Is was substituted by a Viewliner II.

 

[joelkfla]

Why does the 3rd coach on today's 91 have a dark-colored roof? The car number looks like 25027.

 

[west point]

Dark roof == hotter in summer and colder in winter.

 

[railbuck]

It's part of the new livery.

 

[joutback]

Hi I am a new member from Florida . I use to live in ct and took train 97:98 2-3 times a year to fla for 18 years or more

i made reservation in jan for train 97 and 98 for a trip this aug from fla to ct and back

saturday i called to move date up a week only to be told they remived trains 97/98 from service and never called me or emailed me

now there is no connecting trains from train91/92 NY to t ct on weekdays
the 91/92 train takes 7 hours longer then97/98
there is no dining car 9n 91/92
and no help for disabled passengers in new haven if i do get the one connection on a weeekendtrain91/92 (if train from fla is late to ny i have to sleep in oenn station till the next morning
and going from new haven ct to oenn to catch 91/92 for refurn trip no early amtrak train so id either have to get an acela and hope no delays or get to washington

very poor decison on amtraks part and I am hoping some one here can help me figure out a way to get them to reverse this decison before august and get me back o train 97/98

 

[jruff001]

Yes. Upto Memorial Day apparently.

Does anyone have an update on how long the combined Star / Meteor will last? I am interested in booking a trip in mid-June but the website is still only showing 91/92 through the dates I want to travel. Which is fine, but I don't want to try to book a VL2 based on that info only to have the consist change if 97/98 are coming back before then. Or should I just go with what is on the website and assume no 97/98 by then.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Meteor is now suspended up to mid September

 

[jruff001]

Meteor is now suspended up to mid September

Thank you!

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

They should just extend the Palmetto to Miami in the meantime.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

They should just extend the Palmetto to Miami in the meantime.

It would require one or more T&E crews to be qualified on the route south of Savannah. And a sleeper & OBS for the sleeper. Seems to me that if they have all of that they’d be running the Meteor.

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

It would require one or more T&E crews to be qualified on the route south of Savannah. And a sleeper & OBS for the sleeper. Seems to me that if they have all of that they’d be running the Meteor.

If they have the man power but not the sleepers, forget the sleepers. I'd rather a second train to Florida than no train.

 

[jis]

If they have the man power but not the sleepers, forget the sleepers. I'd rather a second train to Florida than no train.

The reason that the Meteor is cancelled is lack of manpower. If there was manpower to run the Palmetto, never mind that there is no rolling stock for the additional consists, then they could simply run the Meteor for which there is rolling stock available which is currently running in the Star.

 

[pennyk]

I have just heard from a friend, who is an Amtrak employee, who is friends with Amtrak employees in the Miami crew base, that when the Meteor returns northbound on September 11th, traditional dining will also return.

Please keep in mind that this is hearsay and not official, but I think it is very good news for my October trip on the Meteor.
FYI, my friend said it was OK to post here.

 

[chrsjrcj]

Good news if that pans out. I did see a job opening for a chef in Miami a few weeks ago, so I assume they expect to fill the needed positions by then.

 

[Joe from PA]

when the Meteor returns northbound on September 11th, traditional dining will also return.

Please keep in mind that this is hearsay and not official

If that comes about, we will be on the Meteor next March. If not, American Airlines.

 

[pennyk]

Hi I am a new member from Florida . I use to live in ct and took train 97:98 2-3 times a year to fla for 18 years or more

i made reservation in jan for train 97 and 98 for a trip this aug from fla to ct and back

saturday i called to move date up a week only to be told they remived trains 97/98 from service and never called me or emailed me

now there is no connecting trains from train91/92 NY to t ct on weekdays
the 91/92 train takes 7 hours longer then97/98
there is no dining car 9n 91/92
and no help for disabled passengers in new haven if i do get the one connection on a weeekendtrain91/92 (if train from fla is late to ny i have to sleep in oenn station till the next morning
and going from new haven ct to oenn to catch 91/92 for refurn trip no early amtrak train so id either have to get an acela and hope no delays or get to washington

very poor decison on amtraks part and I am hoping some one here can help me figure out a way to get them to reverse this decison before august and get me back o train 97/98

Welcome to AU. From everything I have read and heard, the Silver Meteor will not be returning until September at the earliest.
Hopefully, someone could help you with connections to and from New Haven, CT.
I do not think any AU member has the ability to get Amtrak to reverse their decision to combine the Silvers.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Hi I am a new member from Florida . I use to live in ct and took train 97:98 2-3 times a year to fla for 18 years or more

i made reservation in jan for train 97 and 98 for a trip this aug from fla to ct and back

saturday i called to move date up a week only to be told they remived trains 97/98 from service and never called me or emailed me

now there is no connecting trains from train91/92 NY to t ct on weekdays
the 91/92 train takes 7 hours longer then97/98
there is no dining car 9n 91/92
and no help for disabled passengers in new haven if i do get the one connection on a weeekendtrain91/92 (if train from fla is late to ny i have to sleep in oenn station till the next morning
and going from new haven ct to oenn to catch 91/92 for refurn trip no early amtrak train so id either have to get an acela and hope no delays or get to washington

very poor decison on amtraks part and I am hoping some one here can help me figure out a way to get them to reverse this decison before august and get me back o train 97/98

Amtrak has been making these cutback decisions due to staff shortages (due to COVID). They are apparently short on number of engineers and conductors needed to run the Meteor's route and it takes months to hire and train new engineers and conductors. They are doing the best they can, just like other transportation and other industries, to fill in their staff shortages.

 

[joelkfla]

Amtrak has been making these cutback decisions due to staff shortages (due to COVID). They are apparently short on number of engineers and conductors needed to run the Meteor's route and it takes months to hire and train new engineers and conductors. They are doing the best they can, just like other transportation and other industries, to fill in their staff shortages.

Nobody is denying that Amtrak has staff shortages. The issue is their decision that the Star is adequate, and the Meteor should be the last train to be restored to normal service.

As I've been saying for a while, the Star is useless unless one is confining their travels to the Eastern seaboard. There are absolutely no connections westward, and very few tight connections eastward. And now add the lack of connections northward which is affecting @joutback.

A 2-month suspension was not ideal but understandable, but now they've extended it to 2/3 of a year.

There are other things Amtrak could have done. Maybe running the Star and the Meteor on alternate days. Maybe moving the Star's northbound schedule up a couple of hours, and perhaps the southbound schedule back, to enable connections. Maybe choosing some other service to be the unlucky fall guy who gets last dibs.

Instead, they just seem to be saying, "Oh, we're serving all the stations, problem solved. You don't need connections."

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Nobody is denying that Amtrak has staff shortages. The issue is their decision that the Star is adequate, and the Meteor should be the last train to be restored to normal service.

As I've been saying for a while, the Star is useless unless one is confining their travels to the Eastern seaboard. There are absolutely no connections westward, and very few tight connections eastward. And now add the lack of connections northward which is affecting @joutback.

A 2-month suspension was not ideal but understandable, but now they've extended it to 2/3 of a year.

There are other things Amtrak could have done. Maybe running the Star and the Meteor on alternate days. Maybe moving the Star's northbound schedule up a couple of hours, and perhaps the southbound schedule back, to enable connections. Maybe choosing some other service to be the unlucky fall guy who gets last dibs.

Instead, they just seem to be saying, "Oh, we're serving all the stations, problem solved. You don't need connections."

How do your proposals take into account qualified crews on all parts of the Meteor's route?

 

[joelkfla]

How do your proposals take into account qualified crews on all parts of the Meteor's route?

Would running the Star & Meteor on alternate days, or modifying the Star's schedule by a couple of hours to enable connections, change the crew requirements? (My knowledge of crew requirements is admittedly lacking.)

 

[jis]

Would running the Star & Meteor on alternate days, or modifying the Star's schedule by a couple of hours to enable connections, change the crew requirements? (My knowledge of crew requirements is admittedly lacking.)

During the Boardman days, Boardman's right hand man happened to be a good friend of mine (and several others on AU). We got into a discussion of what it takes to change the timing of a train and what consequences it has with trying to return later to the previous timing. The discussion was specific to CSX. Suffice it to say unless such a change is CSX initiated I got the impression that it is not the brightest thing to contemplate.

I don't think in this case there is any solution that does not cause pain to someone or the other. The four days Meteor, three days Star was tried in the previous cutbacks and apparently did not work that well either, specifically related to serving Tampa, and Raleigh. Given the passenger loads that it is carrying it is not clear that this one was that bad a decision.

Of course, the best thing is to try to end this sooner rather than later. At least we have been fortunate enough to have daily service while the rest of the nation suffered through 5 days a week. But understandably getting 5x trains to daily should take priority over this.

Anyway, all this is pretty much water under the bridge with only 5 months to go.

 

[daybeers]

all this is pretty much water under the bridge with only 4 months to go

Unless it gets extended again.

there is no dining car 9n 91/92

Since the consists of the Silver Star (91/92) and Silver Meteor (97/98) are combined, there is a dining car.

and no help for disabled passengers in new haven if i do get the one connection on a weeekendtrain91/92 (if train from fla is late to ny i have to sleep in oenn station till the next morning
and going from new haven ct to oenn to catch 91/92 for refurn trip no early amtrak train so id either have to get an acela and hope no delays or get to washington

I apologize for the inconvenience you're going through and that Amtrak did not inform you of the change. They will pay for alternate transportation for you to catch the Silver Star to and from NYP. Which days in August are you traveling? You should be able to catch a train south from New Haven to arrive in NYP before the Star departs southbound. The last train northbound leaves NYP around 8 or 9 depending on the day of the week so I think you'll be okay there too.

 

[jis]

The last train northbound leaves NYP around 8 or 9 depending on the day of the week so I think you'll be okay there too.

The one problem I see is that Amtrak will most likely not guarantee that connection. I did send her a private message with what alternatives she has. Southbound it should be no problem. Amtrak will even guarantee the connection.

 

[daybeers]

The one problem I see is that Amtrak will most likely not guarantee that connection. I did send her a private message with what alternatives she has. Southbound it should be no problem. Amtrak will even guarantee the connection.

It looks like 136 on Fridays and 166 on Sundays are guaranteed connections. There is also the option of taking the subway and catching Metro-North, of which there are plenty available even if the Star is quite late. You can make Amtrak pay for that since they didn't inform you of the cancellation. @joutback there also very much is assistance in New Haven; not sure why you thought or were informed otherwise. Red Caps are available.