Schedule Change for #98 Silver Meteor

[frugalist]

Today, I decided to railfan the Silver Meteor at the Sebring station, as I've done several times in the past. Scheduled departure time is (was?) 11:44am. Before leaving home I checked the Amtrak Status Map and saw that the train left West Palm Beach 12 minutes late (I didn't note the specific times, just that it was 12 minutes late). So I figured I'd plan to get there between 11:40 and 11:45. Well, as I approached the station at 11:39 I saw all the automobiles leaving the station and nobody waiting on the platform. The train had already come and gone! My only though was, "I didn't think that was allowed."

After grabbing a nice lunch, I came home and started to research what had happened. First I went back to the Status Maps page and clicked on #98 for detailed info. It showed #98 leaving Sebring at 11:37, 13 minutes late! That made no sense. The train certainly was gone by 11:39, so an 11:37 departure sounded right, but why would that be 13 minutes late when scheduled departure wasn't until 11:44? Next, I went to amtrak.com and entered info for a trip from SBG-NYP on May 10. Scheduled departure time from SBG: 11:24am. Scheduled arrival in NYP: 11:06am the next day. So, it looks like the schedule has shifted. 20 minutes earlier departure from SBG and 30 minutes earlier arrival in NYP.

We have a big trip coming up in a few weeks so I wanted to see if our train was affected. Sure enough, for our early-July departure, the schedule has shifted as described above. Next I checked every one of our trains on our entire journey. The eastbound Capitol Limited's schedule has also been shifted. Departure from Chicago has changed from 6:40pm to 6:10pm. This gives us 30 fewer minutes to make our connection from the eastbound Empire Builder, which is scheduled to arrive at 3:55pm. The Cap. Ltd. arrival in Washington has changed from 1:10pm to 12:40pm. This is good for us since (assuming we make our connection in Chicago), we'll have an extra 30 minutes to play tourist in DC before catching the Silver Meteor back home at 7:30pm.

I wonder if/when Amtrak will notify us of these schedule changes.

 

[battalion51]

There was a schedule change that went into effect today, shifted some trains by a few minutes. In this case the Meteor moved by 20-30 minutes depending on your location. If you are holding reservations contact should be forthcoming from Amtrak, but obviously they focus their efforts on the people it will effect first. If there is a huge inconvenience typically you are given the option to re-book, potentially with no penalty (if for example you'd rather take 92 than 98). With this sort of subtle schedule change I would guess this puts the train in a better slot on CSX or on the NEC. Either way, most folks probably won't notice that much. It's not like you're going from a Noon departure time to 9 AM...

 

[frugalist]

No, it's not an inconvenience at all. In fact this will give us an extra 30 minutes to enjoy NYC before we connect to the Lake Shore Limited that afternoon. I'm just glad I wasn't trying to catch the train this morning!

 

[HeadingNorth]

Though with the new schedule, arriving in WAS at 7:20 am, is it possible that I'd be unable to have breakfast if the train is early into WAS? I saw the time into ALX is at 6:55 (or earlier)...

Normally I wouldn't be concerned, but I'm taking 98 from DLD-WAS next week and I'd prefer not to skip breakfast. I also know some crews schedule meals around service stops.

 

[pennyk]

Though with the new schedule, arriving in WAS at 7:20 am, is it possible that I'd be unable to have breakfast if the train is early into WAS? I saw the time into ALX is at 6:55 (or earlier)...

Normally I wouldn't be concerned, but I'm taking 98 from DLD-WAS next week and I'd prefer not to skip breakfast. I also know some crews schedule meals around service stops.

I was on the Silver Meteor 5/7, arriving in WAS 5/8 (before the schedule change) and we arrived 40+ minutes early. Even though I was getting off on WAS, I went to the diner anyway and was able to eat a very quick breakfast. They were prepared to give me a "to-go" carrier just in case I did not have to finish. I was the only WAS passenger that attempted to eat breakfast. My guess is after the schedule change, there will be no breakfast for passengers de-training in WAS if the Meteor is early (or maybe if it is on time).