Amtrak is launching a new route between Chicago and Miami this fall that will whisk passengers from the Midwest to the Sunshine State in 47 hours.
Called the Floridian, the temporary long-distance Amtrak route will launch daily service on November 10, 2024. It combines the existing Capitol Limited and Silver Star routes, making intermediate stops in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Washington, DC, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa.
“Our members have had a long-standing dream of restoring a one-seat ride from the Midwest to Florida, and we’re thrilled that a new generation of American passengers will be able to experience this service for themselves,” Jim Mathews, President & CEO of the Rail Passengers Association said in a news release.
Loyal Amtrak riders may remember the Floridian train that ran between Chicago and Miami in the 1970s. However, the new route won’t look the same this time around—the original Floridian made stops in Louisville, Nashville, and Montgomery, Alabama.
In addition to connecting the Midwest to the Southeast during peak travel season, the temporary Floridian route also serves another purpose: to help alleviate traffic on the Northeast Corridor during the upcoming renovation of New York City’s East River Tunnel (ERT). The four tubes used by more than 450 daily Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), and NJ TRANSIT trains were badly damaged during Hurricane Sandy—construction to restore the tunnels is expected to begin by the end of 2024 and continue through 2027.
Reintroducing the Floridian route “will free up badly needed equipment while taking pressure off Northeast Corridor infrastructure during the renovation of the ERT Project,” Mathews said in the release. “We believe riders will flock to this new service.”
How to book
The Floridian train will depart Chicago’s Union Station at 6:40 p.m. each day. Passengers will spend the first night on board, arrive in Washington DC the next day, and then continue traveling south. About 24 hours in, riders will spend a second night on the train and arrive in Florida the following morning. A total of 47 hours after its departure, the train will at last pull into Miami around 6 p.m.
