Silver Palm
The Silver Palm on its inaugural run in 1982. An EMD F40PHR leads an Amfleet consist.
Overview
Service typeInter-city rail
StatusDiscontinued
LocaleFlorida
First serviceNovember 21, 1982
Last serviceApril 30, 1985
Former operator(s)Amtrak
Route
TerminiMiami, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Stops8
Distance travelled255 miles (410 km)
Average journey time5 hours
Service frequencyDaily
Train number(s)895, 896
On-board services
Class(es)Unreserved coach
Catering facilitiesOn-board cafe
Technical
Rolling stockAmfleet coaches
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Track owner(s)Seaboard System

The Silver Palm was a daily passenger train route operated by Amtrak between Miami and Tampa in the U.S. state of Florida.[1] Service began in 1982 and ended in 1985.

From 1996 to 2002, Amtrak reused the Silver Palm name to rebrand its New York–Miami Palmetto route under the Silver Service banner.

History

The Silver Palm at Tampa in March 1983

As early as 1974, Florida considered funding a Miami–Orlando service using Turboliners, with expansion statewide possible.[2] Amtrak ultimately introduced the first Silver Palm as a single round trip service between Miami and Tampa, Florida, on November 21, 1982.[3] The train was subsidized by the Florida Department of Transportation[4] as a 403(b) service.[5] The train operated over the tracks of the Seaboard System Railroad between Miami and Tampa via Auburndale. The northbound train departed Miami in the morning and returned from Tampa in the afternoon. Travel time was approximately five hours in each direction. A bus connection was provided between Winter Haven and Orlando. It followed the traditional SAL mainline through Wildwood and Ocala in north-central Florida.

The Silver Palm was the first intrastate train to use the then-new Amfleet II coaches.[6] The initial consist was two coaches and a cafe car.[7]

During its service, train crew were required to manually throw switches for the train to operate between divisions.[8] Amtrak had worked to remove speed restrictions on the line and considered adding more stops in an effort to improve service and increase the train's profitability.[9] The state also tried to help boost ridership following a publicity tour by then Lieutenant Governor Wayne Mixson in August 1984,[10] in part to build a base of riders for proposed high-speed service in the state.[5][11] After a two-year trial the Florida Department of Transportation recommended ending subsidies for the Silver Palm. State law required that state-sponsored services maintain a farebox ratio of 60% to continue funding.[1][12]

FDOT announced on October 20, 1984, that the Silver Palm's ratio was 45.3%.[11][13] The service was scheduled to be discontinued on November 20, 1984.[14] The Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers sued the state, arguing that the Department of Transportation had calculated the operating ratio incorrectly, and won at the district court level.[15] This decision was overturned on appeal by the Florida First District Court of Appeal on March 28, 1985.[16] The Silver Palm was discontinued on April 30, 1985.[17][18] It was estimated to have cost $4 million over the course of its run.[19]

Revived name

The second Silver Palm was a long-distance passenger train between New York, New York, and Miami, Florida. This was a revival of the Palmetto, which Amtrak had discontinued on April 1, 1995. Service began on November 10, 1996. For a period in the mid-1990s, as in the 1996-1997 season, it was Amtrak's only train passing through Ocala area north-central Florida section in 1996.[20] Amtrak restored the Palmetto name on May 1, 2002, after the train lost sleeping and dining car service.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Profit Loss May Run Silver Palm Off Track". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, FL. August 11, 1984. p. 174 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ↑ Ingles, J. David (July 1974). "Amtrak South". Trains. Vol. 34, no. 9. pp. 32–34.
  3. ↑ Moffett, Dan (November 21, 1982). "Train Starts Daily Run Across State". Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, FL. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ↑ Klein, Gil (November 16, 1982). "State betting Amtrak's Silver Palm will blossom". Tampa Tribune. Tampa, FL. p. 39 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. 1 2 Romano, Michael (August 24, 1984). "Officials ride the rails for Amtrak's Silver Palm". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, FL. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ↑ Brokaw, Rick (June 26, 1983). "Silver Palm makes the trip". Tampa Tribune. Tampa, FL. p. 182 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ↑ "Pardon me boy - Is that the Silver Palm for Tampa?". Miami News. October 16, 1982. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
  8. ↑ Final Environmental Impact Statement: Florida Power & Light Company Martin Coal Gasification/Combined Cycle Project. Atlanta, GA: United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region IV. May 1991. p. D-25 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ "Amtrak to Consider Okeechobee Flag Stop". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, FL. July 15, 1984. p. 42 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  10. ↑ "Mixson: More passengers needed or wave good-bye to Silver Palm". Tampa Tribune. Tampa, FL. August 24, 1984. p. 32 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  11. 1 2 Klein, Gil (October 20, 1984). "Cutoff of state subsidy means end of Tampa-to-Miami rail service". Tampa Tribune. Tampa, FL. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  12. ↑ Kinneberg, Rob (December 7, 1984). "Hopes Dim for Okeechobee Amtrak Stop". Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, FL. p. 167 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  13. ↑ "State to cut Silver Palm funding". Lakeland Ledger. October 20, 1984. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
  14. ↑ Rojas, Helen (October 20, 1984). "Amtrak Silver Palm connecting Miami and Tampa discontinued". Fort Lauderdale News. Fort Lauderdale, FL. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  15. ↑ Wolff, Christine (November 13, 1984). "Ruling puts Silver Palm on track to keep running". Miami News. Miami, FL. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  16. ↑ "Silver Palm Hits End Of The Line In Courts". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. March 29, 1985. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
  17. ↑ Marmor, Jon (May 1, 1985). "Silver Palm Comes to End Of the Line". Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, FL – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  18. ↑ Allen, Kevin (April 30, 1985). "End of the line: Amtrak's 'Silver Palm' makes its final run". Fort Lauderdale News. Fort Lauderdale, FL. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  19. ↑ "Doubts are flying about high-speed rail system". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, FL. September 17, 1989. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  20. ↑ Amtrak Timetable, November 1996 p. 29 http://www.timetables.org/full.php?group=19961110n&item=0029
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