Silver Palm (train)

File:Silver Palm at Tampa Union Station, March 1983.jpg

As early as 1974, Florida considered funding a Miami–Orlando service using Turboliners, with expansion statewide possible.{{cite magazine |title=Amtrak South |first=J. David |last=Ingles |pages=32–34 |magazine=Trains |date=July 1974 |volume=34 |issue=9}} Amtrak ultimately introduced the first Silver Palm as a single round trip service between Miami and Tampa, Florida, on November 21, 1982.{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31974336/the_palm_beach_post/| title=Train Starts Daily Run Across State| first=Dan| last=Moffett| newspaper=Palm Beach Post| location=West Palm Beach, FL| date=November 21, 1982| page=2| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} The train was subsidized by the Florida Department of Transportation{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31975083/the_tampa_tribune/| title=State betting Amtrak's Silver Palm will blossom| first=Gil| last=Klein| newspaper=Tampa Tribune| location=Tampa, FL| date=November 16, 1982| page=39| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} as a 403(b) service.{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31975286/south_florida_sun_sentinel/| title=Officials ride the rails for Amtrak's Silver Palm| first=Michael| last=Romano| newspaper=South Florida Sun Sentinel| location=Fort Lauderdale, FL| date=August 24, 1984| page=14| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} The train operated over the tracks of the Seaboard System Railroad between Miami and Tampa via Auburndale. The northbound train departed Miami in the morning and returned from Tampa in the afternoon. Travel time was approximately five hours in each direction. A bus connection was provided between {{amtk|Winter Haven}} and {{amtk|Orlando}}. It followed the traditional SAL mainline through Wildwood and Ocala in north-central Florida.

The Silver Palm was the first intrastate train to use the then-new Amfleet II coaches.{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31974074/the_tampa_tribune/| title=Silver Palm makes the trip| first=Rick| last=Brokaw| newspaper=Tampa Tribune| location=Tampa, FL| date=June 26, 1983| page=182| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} The initial consist was two coaches and a cafe car.{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tNwlAAAAIBAJ&pg=6343,101031 |title=Pardon me boy - Is that the Silver Palm for Tampa? |date=October 16, 1982 |work=Miami News |access-date=July 7, 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

During its service, train crew were required to manually throw switches for the train to operate between divisions.{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U9o0AQAAMAAJ&q=Amtrak+Silver+Palm&pg=SL4-PA25| via=Google Books| page=D-25| title=Final Environmental Impact Statement: Florida Power & Light Company Martin Coal Gasification/Combined Cycle Project| publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region IV| location=Atlanta, GA| date=May 1991}} Amtrak had worked to remove speed restrictions on the line and considered adding more stops in an effort to improve service and increase the train's profitability.{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31973800/the_palm_beach_post/| title=Amtrak to Consider Okeechobee Flag Stop| newspaper=The Palm Beach Post| location=West Palm Beach, FL| date=July 15, 1984| page=42| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} The state also tried to help boost ridership following a publicity tour by then Lieutenant Governor Wayne Mixson in August 1984,{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31973926/the_tampa_tribune/| title=Mixson: More passengers needed or wave good-bye to Silver Palm| newspaper=Tampa Tribune| location=Tampa, FL| date=August 24, 1984| page=32| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} in part to build a base of riders for proposed high-speed service in the state.{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31974850/the_tampa_tribune/| title=Cutoff of state subsidy means end of Tampa-to-Miami rail service| first=Gil| last=Klein| date=October 20, 1984| newspaper=Tampa Tribune| location=Tampa, FL| page=17| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} After a two-year trial the Florida Department of Transportation recommended ending subsidies for the Silver Palm. State law required that state-sponsored services maintain a farebox ratio of 60% to continue funding.{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31974436/the_palm_beach_post/| title=Hopes Dim for Okeechobee Amtrak Stop| first=Rob| last=Kinneberg| newspaper=Palm Beach Post| location=West Palm Beach, FL| date=December 7, 1984| page=167| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}

FDOT announced on October 20, 1984, that the Silver Palm's ratio was 45.3%.{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8rgwAAAAIBAJ&pg=6925,2033148 |title=State to cut Silver Palm funding |date=October 20, 1984 |work=Lakeland Ledger |access-date=July 7, 2012}} The service was scheduled to be discontinued on November 20, 1984.{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31974691/fort_lauderdale_news/| title=Amtrak Silver Palm connecting Miami and Tampa discontinued| first=Helen| last=Rojas| newspaper=Fort Lauderdale News| location=Fort Lauderdale, FL| date=October 20, 1984| page=8| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} The Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers sued the state, arguing that the Department of Transportation had calculated the operating ratio incorrectly, and won at the district court level.{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31975446/the_miami_news/| first=Christine| last=Wolff| title=Ruling puts Silver Palm on track to keep running| newspaper=Miami News| location=Miami, FL| date=November 13, 1984| page=5| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} This decision was overturned on appeal by the Florida First District Court of Appeal on March 28, 1985.{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=q-IeAAAAIBAJ&pg=3490,3442820 |title=Silver Palm Hits End Of The Line In Courts |date=March 29, 1985 |work=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |access-date=July 7, 2012}} The Silver Palm was discontinued on April 30, 1985.{{Cite news |title=Silver Palm Comes to End Of the Line |last=Marmor |first=Jon |date=May 1, 1985 |newspaper=Palm Beach Post| location=West Palm Beach, FL| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31975204/the_palm_beach_post/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31975574/fort_lauderdale_news/| title=End of the line: Amtrak's 'Silver Palm' makes its final run| first=Kevin| last=Allen| newspaper=Fort Lauderdale News| location=Fort Lauderdale, FL| date=April 30, 1985| page=1| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} It was estimated to have cost $4 million over the course of its run.{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31974552/south_florida_sun_sentinel/| title=Doubts are flying about high-speed rail system| newspaper=South Florida Sun Sentinel| location=Fort Lauderdale, FL| date=September 17, 1989| page=4| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}

{{main|Palmetto (train)}}

The second Silver Palm was a long-distance passenger train between New York, New York, and Miami, Florida. This was a revival of the Palmetto, which Amtrak had discontinued on April 1, 1995. Service began on November 10, 1996. For a period in the mid-1990s, as in the 1996-1997 season, it was Amtrak's only train passing through Ocala area north-central Florida section in 1996.Amtrak Timetable, November 1996 p. 29 http://www.timetables.org/full.php?group=19961110n&item=0029 Amtrak restored the Palmetto name on May 1, 2002, after the train lost sleeping and dining car service.

Currently, only the Silver Star provides daily Amtrak service between Miami and Tampa. A proposal called Amtrak Connects US outlines 15-year expansion plans for state-supported intercity rail corridors, with one of the routes being between Miami and Tampa. It would follow the same route as the Silver Palm, with stops at all the same stations as well as an additional stop at the Okeechobee station.{{Cite web |title=Amtrak Tampa to Miami Expansion Plans |url=https://www.amtrakconnectsus.com/maps/tampa-miami/ |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=Amtrak Connects US |language=en-US}}

• Palmetto
• Silver Service

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• [http://www.timetables.org/full.php?group=19841028&item=0027 1984 timetable]

{{Former Amtrak routes}}

Category:Former Amtrak routes

Category:Passenger rail transportation in Florida

Category:Railway services introduced in 1982

Category:Railway services discontinued in 1985