New Amtrak Route Offers ‘One Seat Ride’ From Midwest to Florida

The service will connect Chicago to Miami via Toledo, Ohio according to Amtrak.

There's something about a train that's magic! Let's bring back the days of glamourous cross-country travel by train just like in the movies à la North by Northwest or White Christmas. 

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It's definitely on my bucket list to take the scenic California Zephyr train from Chicago to Omaha through Denver and the Rockies before reaching our final destination in San Francisco.

Does anyone else dream about this stuff or is it just me?

The Floridian

On Monday, August 24 Amtrak announced some new changes coming to two of its existing route lines. For a limited time the Capitol Limited and Silver Star lines will be combined into one direct route, The Floridian. 

Amtrak customers can now purchase tickets on the Floridian, a new temporary route offering a direct round-trip between Chicago and Miami with intermediate stops in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa that will take customers to these cities in comfort and style. This train...makes its inaugural trip on Sunday, Nov. 10.

Why the Sudden Change?

While this new line is certainly exciting for Amtrak's customers in the Midwest as it now gives riders a "one-seat ride" from the Midwest to Florida as Jim Mathews, President & CEO of the Rail Passengers Association, put it. However, at this time plans to keep the route around are only temporary,

Amtrak is temporarily combining the...trains to create the Floridian due to the upcoming East River Tunnel Rehabilitation Project in New York. During this project, one tunnel tube will be closed at a time, minimizing service impacts, maximizing construction access and modernizing the tunnel infrastructure to serve customers for another 100 years.

According to Amtrak The Floridian will operate on a schedule similar to the Capitol Limited and Silver Star lines; more details here.