Silver Service and Palmetto - Definition and Overview

The Silver Service and Palmetto are a group of passenger railway lines operated by Amtrak, connecting New York Penn Station to Tampa, Florida and Miami, Florida. The line splits between Selma, North Carolina and Savannah, Georgia and south of Auburndale, Florida. Except for a short section at Savannah (where it uses the S Line), the combined route and east alignment runs along CSX's A Line (former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad mainline) from Richmond, Virginia to Tampa. Except between Selma and Raleigh, North Carolina (where it uses Norfolk Southern's H Line), the west alignment uses CSX's S Line, formerly the Seaboard Air Line Railroad mainline.

The Silver Star runs from New York City to Tampa, and then to Miami, via the west route at the north split and the east route at the south split. The Silver Meteor runs from New York City to Miami, using both east routes and bypassing Tampa. The Palmetto runs from New York City to Savannah, Georgia via the east route. Each train runs once per direction per day.

Until late 2002, the Palmetto was known as the Silver Palm.

Until November 1, 2004, service was slightly different. The Palmetto continued south to Miami with the other trains, but used CSX's S Line between Jacksonville and Plant City. There it turned west to Tampa, turned around, and went to Miami. Both Silver Service trains bypassed Tampa. The Palmetto's old routing is now served by Thruway Motorcoach bus service, with transfers at Jacksonville and Lakeland. The bus also stops at Gainesville, which had not been served by rail.

Other Amtrak lines on these tracks (south of Washington) are:

• Auto Train - Lorton, Virginia to Sanford, Florida via the west route
• Carolinian - Washington south to just north of Cary, North Carolina via the west route
• Regional - Washington south to south of Richmond Staples Mill Road Station
• Sunset Limited - Jacksonville south to Orlando, Florida via the east route, only three days per week

The Crescent and Cardinal lines only use the route from Washington to Alexandria, Virginia, stopping at both (and north to New York City); no information is provided here about those lines.

Station listing

For service north of Washington, see Northeast Corridor. Silver Service/Palmetto trains stop only at these stations:

• New York Penn Station
• Newark Penn Station
• Trenton
• Philadelphia 30th Street Station
• Wilmington
• Baltimore Penn Station

These lines are listed in the table below:

• Amtrak lines: AT=Auto Train, CL=Carolinian, PL=Palmetto, RG=Regional, SL=Sunset Limited, SM=Silver Meteor, SS=Silver Star (note that not all trains of that designation necessarily stop at those stations)
• Tri-Rail
• VRE=Fredericksburg Line (and Manassas Line at and north of Alexandria)

West route

Miami route

External links

• Silver Service/Palmetto official page (http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Route/Vertical_Route_Page&c=am2Route&cid=1081442674074&ssid=136)