St. Petersburg Bus to Tampa Amtrak?

[Billvasili]

In a short time I will be traveling to Tampa, and then to ST. Petersburg Fl. For the return though my friend and I are going to use the Amtrak bus, shuttle I was told is similar to the service provided for people going to Las Vegas Neveda which I have used before. Has anyone used this service from St. Petersburg to Tampa and is it only Amtrak passengers on it? Also is it a van or larger vehicle that Amtrak uses? Also my friend is going from Tampa to Kissimmee so she will be with me in my bedroom on the return trip. She has her own reservation number for that but can we get her tickets ahead of time at Tampa when we get off the train instead of waiting for that day?

 

[PaulM]

I've taken the Tampa to STP several times; and it's always been a good ride. Only Amtrak passengers, and a regular large bus.

My only gripe is that they closed down the staffed station that was in a storefront in a strip mall in Pinellas Park. The new "station" is an unstaffed local bus stop alongside a mall in northern St. Petersburg, sort of a Megabus stop. If you are going to St. Pete, the location is more convenient. But if you are going to Clearwater or north, it's much further. In fact my most recent trip was from Dunedin, FL to connect with the northbound Star at TPA. I engaged a shuttle driver to take us from Dunedin to STP. Later when the driver heard we would be boarding the train at TPA, he offered to take us there for the same price, saying it's almost the same distance and much faster.

The last time we were very late arriving at STP about 9 or 10PM instead of 2PM, not the bus's fault but the Silver Star. The driver waited with us while we waited for our ride. It was a nice gesture, although the place looked like a typical suburban mall.

According to a June 29, 2021 timetable, the Star arrives at TPA at 12:23PM and Bus 6091 to STP departs at 1:00PM. It's been my recollection that the bus departs as soon as all the passengers and luggage, both checked and carry on, can be transferred.