By Bob Johnston | July 10, 2024
Potential move would ease Superliner shortage, but there could be timekeeping and capacity challenges
WASHINGTON — Circ*mstantial evidence gleaned from Amtrak’s booking site portends mid-November changes to the operation of the Chicago-Washington, D.C. Capitol Limited and the New York-Miami Silver Star. A Trains News Wire review of ticketing availabilities on the two trains indicates tentative plans to combine their operation as a single-level Chicago-Miami train.
Doing so would allow Amtrak to redeploy the Capitol’s three Superliner equipment sets — each now running with two coaches, two sleeping cars, and one diner-lounge, plus any standby Superliners stationed at Washington solely as Capitol backups — to other long-distance departures. The train’s consist currently makes a same-day turn at Chicago, so a fifth set of Viewliners and Amfleet II cars would be required, but the 24-hour layover Superliners sit idle in D.C. would be eliminated.
Amtrak has yet to confirm any changes will take place. The company did not respond to a detailed set of questions Trains News Wire emailed on June 24, possibly because options involving crew staffing, locomotive fueling, exact equipment deployment, assurances of expedited train handling from CSX and Norfolk Southern, and amenities offered are still being evaluated. Will train names change? Can a roomette be booked from Pittsburgh to Orlando without getting off in Washington?
Nevertheless, beginning Saturday, Nov. 9, from Miami, the northbound Silver Star is showing “sold out” for anyone attempting to book coach or sleeping car space to New York, but inventory is available as far as Washington. Starting the next day, Nov. 10, and every day thereafter, family rooms on the Capitol are “sold out.” Only Superliners have that accommodation, so this would be the first day of the northbound-to-westbound run-through with Viewliners and Amfleet II equipment.
In the other direction, the last day passengers can book the southbound Star from New York is Sunday, Nov. 10, the same day family rooms from Chicago to Washington start to become unavailable.
Do pluses outweigh the minuses? Here is an examination of some of the trade-offs:
Creating a connection for Northeast passengers — minus: The Silver Star does brisk business between populous Northeast Corridor cities and points south. Requiring a transfer at Washington, even across the platform on the lower level of Union Station, would eliminate the inherent value of a one-seat ride. Linking the two trains, however, enables passengers to connect from the northbound Star to the westbound Capitol. No connection exists now because Amtrak won’t guarantee a transfer from the Star’s 3:04 p.m. arrival to the Capitol’s 4:05 p.m. departure. Connecting from the Chicago train to the Miami-bound Star at D.C. currently can be ticketed because it is nearly two hours: 1:05 p.m. to 3:04 p.m.
Timekeeping — a challenge: That said, both trains are occasionally prone to significant delays for a variety of reasons. Linking them together would compound tardiness. Monday, July 8, for example, was a particularly horrible day. The eastbound Capitol departed Chicago 3 hours late due to mechanical issues on July 7. The delay expanded to 5 hours, 51 minutes following heat-related slow orders. The 6:56 p.m. arrival made for a snug connection to the Silver Meteor, which takes a different route to Florida.
Northbound on Monday, the Silver Star lost 4 hours overnight between Camden, S.C., and Hamlet, N.C. for an undisclosed reason and was 6 hours, 39 minutes late into D.C., arriving at 9:43 p.m.
If the fate of each train were tied together, making a same-day equipment turn at Chicago or even overnight at Miami could affect on-time departures in the same way that the eastbound Empire Builder is affected out of Seattle and Portland, Ore., if its arriving westbound counterparts are hours late. On the other hand, though the Star consistently struggles, the Capitol is often 10 to 20 minutes early into its endpoints.
Before Superliners migrated to the Capitol in the 1990s, Amtrak did offer a through Chicago-Florida coach for a short time. But as former Amtrak executive Mark S. Cane points out [see “Superliner capacity: not a new issue,” Trains Magazine, July 2024], run-through proposals have had a checkered history, most recently with the failure of a brief Capitol Limited–Texas Eagle attempt.
Amenities — a plus: “Flexible” meals were introduced to the Capitol Limited in 2018 as part of the company’s cost-cutting agenda. Having a Viewliner diner serving traditional meals, as the Star now features, would be a welcome upgrade. A properly staffed car capable of accommodating coach passengers offers a double set of windows and spaciousness that would come close to replacing the jettisoned Sightseer lounge.
Revenue capacity — an opportunity: Except in a few low-patronage months as late as 2019, the Superliner-equipped Chicago-Washington train’s revenue consist included three coaches, two sleeping cars, and a transition sleeper. Cuts since 2020 have resulted in numerous sellouts in both coach and sleeping accommodations nearly year-round. The Silver Star usually is assigned two Viewliner sleeping cars and three Amfleet II coaches plus a Viewliner II dining car and Amfleet II cafe.
Another set of single-level equipment would be required for the run-through, with additional “protect” cars at Chicago, in addition to the four Silver Star sets now operating. Amtrak has 15 of 25 Viewliner dining cars in daily service on the Meteor, Star, Crescent, and Lake Shore Limited, so could clearly spare one more. As long as the rest remain operational, some could be stationed at New York and Chicago, while the others cycle through the Hialeah maintenance facility in Miami. Amfleet II coaches and cafes are in short supply, but the coaches could be swapped from day trains, and Northeast Corridor Amfleet I cafes with tables on both sides would be a significant improvement over poor seating and window placement in the long-distance Amfleet II cafes.
But sleeping car capacity will need to be significantly beefed up. That can be accomplished by returning some Viewliner I sleepers sidelined during the Covid-19 pandemic to active service. Trains News Wire has learned that 16 Viewliner I cars on Amtrak’s roster are currently listed as “inactive,” and no Viewliner I overhauls were scheduled in fiscal 2024, which ends Sept. 30. All of the cars’ air brake rebuilding dates expired during the last four years as the final group of 25 Viewliner II sleeping cars were delivered.
Viewliner I work is normally done at the Beech Grove, Ind., heavy maintenance facility, which has been busy maintaining Superliners and returning stored equipment to service. Sidelined sleepers may have been cannibalized for parts, though some cars are most likely in better shape than others.
Ideally, however, a combined Miami-Washington-Chicago train should have a minimum of three Viewliner sleeping cars, since onboard crew must also be accommodated. Adding one sleeper to each of the four existing Silver Star consists, plus three for the fifth set, would mean at least seven of these cars would need overhauls. A tall order to be sure, but one that would pay dividends with revenue and patronage for the foreseeable future even if all the sleepers aren’t operational by the end of the calendar year.
Combining these two trains has its challenges and a myriad of details obviously remain to be hashed out, but the move could open the door to out-of-the-box opportunities that would strengthen connectivity on Amtrak’s long-distance network.
