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Steve4031

Engineer
AU Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2002
Messages
7,036
Location
Chicago
1. Does tri-rail serve the Miami airport area, and provide service to the Amtrak station in Miami?

2. I think that it would be interesting to ride the Silver star since it makes that look to Tampa. How does the turn around in Tampa work? I see that the train is there for only 7 minutes. Do the engines switch ends of the train in Tampa?

3. The schedule from the Amtrak website shows the Carolinian leaving Miami at 3:20 p.m. stopping in Hollywood, and then running "express" to Charlotte. Is this some error, or what is this?

4. How hard is it to book sleeper space using rewards points?

Thanks! :D
 
I'll tackle some of these questions, although 999 or Battalion may know better about your first question.

1) Tri-rail does not serve the Amtrak Miami train station. However you can get on/off Amtrak at the Hollywood station (the last station before Miami) and transfer there to/from Tri-rail. I don't think Tri-rail serves the airport, but I think you can transfer to something else to reach the airport.

2) They wye the train on the way into Tampa. So you will literally back into the Tampa station and then pull out headed forward. The conductor will take up a position in the last coach to guide the train over the 1/2 mile or so of the back up move.

3) I haven't looked at the Amtrak site for that timetable, but I can assure you that the Carolinian doesn't go anywhere near Florida. So there is no way that it starts in Miami and stops in Hollywood, before heading to NC.

4) Shouldn't be too hard. Amtrak's rule is, if there is a sleeper available, then you should be able to use points to book it. The only exception is if you want to travel during a blackout period, which are typically only around holidays.
 
Thanks, that does help. I now vaguely remember the wye movement before the Tampa station. I rode the train there back in the 80's.

You ought to check that one schedule out though, because that does look weird with the Carolinian thing.
 
The Carolinian thing is an error. I believe it was the remnants of the Palmetto's schedule when it went to Miami. Someone just forgot to delete those times.
 
Tri-rail's web site is here: http://www.tri-rail.com/ They have pretty useful information there. Using the Miami Airport Station of Tri-Rail, their shuttle bus to/from the airport is only a six-minute run by the bus each way, so it really must be close. We have used Tri-Rail to get around So. Fla after getting down there by Amtrak from Winter Park (Orlando area), and it's a nice, reliable system. You can also track their trains (real-time) on their web site, shown as positions and train numbers on a trackage map, and it tells you how close to schedule each is running and it's current speed., all of which is kinda neat. If you are looking to fly out of Miami, check out available flights from the Ft. Lauderdale airport, they usually have cheaper fares but just as many flights, or more, as from MIA. They are cheaper from there because that airport has MUCH lower fees charged to the airlines per passenger and per landing, than MIA does. You can get to that airport by a short-run (takes approx 15-20 minutes, or about 9-14 minutes longer than the one to MIA) shuttle bus from the nearby Tri-Rail station also. The Tri-Rail site has all of those shuttle bus schedules and of course the Tri-Rail train schedules as well, on their web site.

I noticed that error on the timetable also, showing the Carolinian miraculously leaving Miami. The printed version they had on the train, and at the WPK station, had the error.

It is an interesting experience running backwards on 91/92 into Tampa. It feels like a good bit longer than a half-mile, though, I would guess at least two or three miles. Quite a few crossings. You go by all of Ybor City backwards on the way in and frontwards on the way out.

Sunset Limited does the same thing (but not into Tampa, of course!), having to back into (or out of) the Jacksonville, FL station as it changes from North-South running South of Jax to East-West running West of Jax. It also does that at Orlando, running though a Wye South of the Orlando station by a few miles, but there are no passengers on board when it does that. Inbound it drops off all the pax before heading south to the wye, and outbound either the entire train goes straight to the wye before stopping at the station to p/u the pax, or the engine pulls the train backwards to the Orlando Station, drops off the consist, and then the Engine heads So., does the wye, and then comes back and runs around the train on double track, backs down onto the train and then off they go.
 
If you're lucky that a car is coming and paying attention, you will notice that the Amtrak line crosses Tampa's TECO Streetcar line at grade in Ybor City at a diamond on the way to/from the Tampa station.
 
As wpk stated there is a shuttle bus from the tri-rail airport station to the actual terminal. The Amtrak station is in Hialeah (slightly north of miami). It would be easier to take tri-rail like Alan said to one of the stations where both systems serve.

Be aware though that if you are planning to go sometime within april there is a bus from wth to tpa that is required from 92. So you wont be going to tampa at all on the train heading northbound. Southbound 91 does make the stop in tpa.
 
engine999 said:
Be aware though that if you are planning to go sometime within april there is a bus from wth to tpa that is required from 92. So you wont be going to tampa at all on the train heading northbound. Southbound 91 does make the stop in tpa.
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Good point 999. I forgot about that diversion. :eek:
 
We were supposed to be on 91-92 today wpk-tpa-wpk but 91 was so late (3+hours) that we decided to just skip it. Between 91 being late and the bustitution leaving two and a half hours earlier than the train normally does, we would have had less than an hour in Tampa to do stuff, and we had been hoping to do lunch over there. So we're a bit bummed out.
 
Hi everybody! B)

Life has been hectic and Amtrak's management doesn't make life any easier! :blink:

Hopefully, I can answer your questions. ;)

TriRail's airport station is the last SB stop, but requires a taxi to get to the terminal. Don't know if the AP provides shuttle service between AP and train station.

Amtrak does share the same track with Trirail from Miami to WPB. The Hollywood station is the nearest station to Miami that share the same platform. The TriRail station in Hialeah is a 1/2 mile walk to the Amtrak station in MIA.

Can't give exact date until Monday, but recall reading that trackwork is planned soon in the TPA area and buses will be provided to TPA.

Nice to be back! :D

Gotta start a new thread! :D

MJ B)
 
Thanks for the information guys. I will be making this trip in July, if and when I do it. It is strange that trirail does not serve the main Amtrak station in Miami. But I am thinking that the amtrak station is off the "main line" which runs to the airport stop. Which would account for this set up.
 
The amtrak station is actually "off" the main line, not very far though. You can see it from tri-rail. There are plans from the Florida Department of Transportation to build a Miami Intermodal Center. They want to have tri-rail, Amtrak and metrorail terminate there. Also there would be a people mover the Airport terminals. Construction has already begun on one part of it.

Joe, tri-rail actually has a bus that runs to the terminals from the station. Its only suppose to take 5 minutes.
 
If you are by yourself and have one easy-to-carry bag, you can basically walk around the block to go from the Amtrak station to the TriRail station. You walk out of the Amtrak station and along N.W. 37 Avenue to the traffic light at N.W. 79 Street and turn right. Walk under the TriRail tracks and then turn right into the station. It only takes a few minutes and is probably no worse than a walk to a distantly-parked car in a major airport.

OTOH, if you have a large or bulky suitcase, or have kids in tow, then this short walk may not be as convenient. A taxi to the airport may be preferable.
 
Having lived in Miami for the first 17 years of my life i would not recommend that walk, bulky luggage or not. The area that the train station is located in is quite frankly not the best part of town. The station parking lot is a prime example of this. The parking lot is huge and offers free long-term parking for any Amtrak passenger brave enough to leave their car there. Nobody ever does, the area just isnt safe enough. While the walk is short the neighborhood is not the best and i would not recommend the walk to anyone not familiar with the area.
 
While the area is not the best part of town, neither is it the worst. There is very little activity in the area (unlike areas much further east on 79 Street, near Biscayne Blvd.). For a man hearty enough to walk around the block, there should be no problem. A female might opt to skop the walk.
 
AmtrakFan said:
Why aren't they stopping in Tampa Northbound anymore?
Click to expand...
CSX track work in the Carolina's. If the train runs over to Tampa, the extra travel time causes it to miss the window for when the track is open. So by skipping Tampa temporarily, the train in theory gets through the construction area before the crews start their project for the day.

Here's the press release about this on Amtrak's website.
 
It seams that the cheapest thing to do would be to ride tri-rail to Hollywood, and transfer there. I would probably be returning a rental car at the airport (Hertz), and then catching the bus over to the tri-rail station, and then continuing on to Hollywood. If the bus between the airport and the station is reliable, and frequent, this works.

However, the easiest thing to do would be to take a cab. In another thread, someone said that the cab ride from the Miami airport to tha Amtrak station would be $25 dollars. This seems high for a 4 or 5 mile trip. Does anybody ever taken this cab ride?
 
Well if you are going to rent your car from Hertz you dont need to worry about the bus to the airport. Hertz is located right next to Tri-Rail's airport station. Take a look at some pictures of the station, to the right of the tracks you may notice a rather large garage, that garage is Hertz airport location. So the easiest and cheapest thing for you to do would probably get off at hollywood and catch tri-rail to the end of the line. Walk out of the station take a right and voila there is hertz.
 
blueman271 said:
Well if you are going to rent your car from Hertz you dont need to worry about the bus to the airport. Hertz is located right next to Tri-Rail's airport station. Take a look at some pictures of the station, to the right of the tracks you may notice a rather large garage, that garage is Hertz airport location. So the easiest and cheapest thing for you to do would probably get off at hollywood and catch tri-rail to the end of the line. Walk out of the station take a right and voila there is hertz.
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That is a huge bit of information. Then it is just a matter of matching tri-rail's schedule with Amtrak's at Hollywood. Thanks. :D
 
Steve, will you be in a sleeper? Are your tickets already booked? If you can manage to take train P621/P649/P687 I know the crews on those trains are great. Consider changing at West Palm to see the marvelous addition to the station (overhead platform).
 
battalion51 said:
Steve, will you be in a sleeper? Are your tickets already booked? If you can manage to take train P621/P649/P687 I know the crews on those trains are great. Consider changing at West Palm to see the marvelous addition to the station (overhead platform).
Click to expand...
I have not made any reservations yet. I was speculating on depart Miani on July 19 to arrive into Washington, D.C. on the 20th. I am also thinking about using some of my reward points for a sleeper on this trip.

I had thought about the Silver Star because it would be a longer trip, and goes through Raleigh, NC. I was there with my girlfriend in September, and wanted to get a rail fan's view of the area from the train.

How do I translate P621/P649/P687 into train numbers or names that I am more familiar with?
 
Steve4031 said:
How do I translate P621/P649/P687 into train numbers or names that I am more familiar with?
Click to expand...
Steve, those are Tri-rail train numbers. So I doubt that you are familiar with them at all and they won't translate into names. :)
 
AlanB said:
Steve4031 said:
How do I translate P621/P649/P687 into train numbers or names that I am more familiar with?
Click to expand...
Steve, those are Tri-rail train numbers. So I doubt that you are familiar with them at all and they won't translate into names. :)
Click to expand...
Ooooohhhhh, I see. :D Thanks. I had looked at their schedules, but I had paid no attention to the train numbers at the time. Now if I look at the schedule, I could plan to take those trips if Battallions friends are working the day that I am there.

Battalion . . . Thanks for the info. I appreciate that. :D
 

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