Amtrak Gets Roasted For “Proudly Announcing” New Chicago-To-Miami Route That Will Take A Whopping 47 Hours To Complete

Quinn Eaton·
CULTURE
·
Amtrak Train
Rail Weekly

Amtrak just introduced a brand-new, very old way of traveling.

If you’ve never traveled by train, I’d recommend doing it at least once. The rates aren’t usually that high, and if it makes sense to take one instead of driving or flying, it can be a fun and different way to see the country. The only problem is that taking the train doesn’t always make sense – when you start comparing price and travel time.

You know what would make sense? A High Speed Rail System across the United States. Every so often, the rendering below of what one could look like always gets my attention. Something like this would be astronomically expensive to put together, but wouldn’t it be nice to have an alternative option to a long road trip or a cramped plane ride?

And if you like that map, you’ll love the next one.

The map above connected some of the United States’ biggest and most populous cities. That’s great and all, but I’d personally prefer a route that’s a little more condensed and focused (on more important things). What am I alluding to? The fever dream image that is the Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville High Speed Rail System, which would connect all of the Margaritaville restaurants across the country.

Enough about the high speed rail system though. Let’s talk about what’s actually happening in the real world.

Amtrak made a big announcement yesterday, saying that they are introducing a new route that will be called “The Floridian.” As they explain, the train “combines two iconic routes – the Capitol Limited and Silver Star,” and it effectively connects Chicago, Illinois, to Miami, Florida, by train.

Hey that’s great! But how long will a trip from Chicago to Miami on the Floridian take? Just short of 48 hours. That’s not exactly high speed, though it is a hand-off way of traveling. Notice that I didn’t necessarily say affordable… because that all depends on availability and length of trip.

I’m happy that Amtrak is proud of the new route, but hopefully they didn’t take too close of a look at the comments that started popping up below their post – eventually leading to the two-day route to go viral on social media:

 

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