Palmetto (train)

The Palmetto is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between New York City and Savannah, Georgia, via the Northeast Corridor, Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia, Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina. The "Palmetto" is a shorter version of the "Silver Meteor", which continues south to Miami, Florida. Between 1996 and 2002 this service was called the Silver Palm. Although currently a day train, in the past the "Palmetto" provided overnight sleeper service to Florida.
During fiscal year 2019, the "Palmetto" carried 345,342 passengers, a decrease of 11% from FY2018. The train had a total revenue of $27,208,372 during FY2016, a 61.4% increase over FY2015.
History.
The "Palmetto" name was first used by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1909 for the "Palmetto Limited", which ran from New York City to Augusta and Savannah, Georgia, with a connection to Atlanta via the Georgia Railroad. The ACL train was discontinued in 1968.
Amtrak introduced the new "Palmetto" on June 15, 1976. The train drew its name from the "Sabal palmetto", the state tree of South Carolina. The "Palmetto" was the first train in the Southern United States to receive the then-new Amfleet equipment, and the run was the longest at the time for the new coaches. At the time of introduction, Amtrak planned to run the "Palmetto" daily for the summer only, with service ending September 8. However, citing better-than-expected ridership, Amtrak extended the "Palmetto" to a year-round service indefinitely. In October 1976 the Florida Department of Transportation urged Amtrak to extend the "Palmetto" south to Miami.
Between October 1984 and September 1985, Amtrak operated the "Carolinian," a North Carolina-focused regional train, as a section of the "Palmetto." The two trains ran combined between New York and Richmond, Virginia. At Richmond the "Carolinian" continued separately to Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina. The "Carolinian" was discontinued after the state of North Carolina refused to increase its support for the train.
In December 1988 Amtrak extended the "Palmetto" south to Jacksonville, Florida. The train continued to be coach-only, without full dining service. Beginning on May 12, 1990, the "Palmetto" combined with a revived "Carolinian", although this time the split occurred in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The two trains began running independently to New York in April 1991. In October 1994 the "Palmetto" became a full overnight with sleeper and dining car service, running through to Tampa, Florida. This replaced the "Silver Meteor's" Tampa section. This extension was short-lived: budget cuts under the Clinton administration led to the "Palmetto's" discontinuance on February 1, 1995.
Revival.
Amtrak added a third train from New York to Miami on November 10, 1996, known as the "Silver Palm" in line with the "Silver Service" brand for Amtrak's Florida trains. However, it used the same route as the former "Palmetto" and carried the same numbers (89 southbound and 90 northbound). While the "Silver Star" and "Silver Meteor" ran straight from Jacksonville to Miami, at Jacksonville the "Silver Palm" turned west and continued over the old Seaboard Air Line Railroad main line via Waldo, Ocala, Wildwood and Dade City to Tampa. At Tampa, it reversed and ran south to Miami. Amtrak restored the "Palmetto" name on May 1, 2002, after it removed the sleepers and dining car from the train, although it continued serving Florida.
On November 1, 2004, Amtrak truncated the "Palmetto" to Savannah, Georgia, operating a daytime schedule to and from New York (as it had prior to 1994). With the truncation to Savannah, the "Silver Star" was rerouted to serve Tampa; the old Jacksonville-Lakeland route is now served by a Thruway Motorcoach bus transfer from the "Silver Star", which serves all the former stations as well as Gainesville.
In the January 2011 issue of "Trains" magazine, this route was listed as one of five routes to be looked at by Amtrak in FY 2011 as the previous five routes ("Sunset", "Eagle", "Zephyr", "Capitol", and "Cardinal") were examined in FY 2010. In October 2015, in an effort to reduce redundant trains, Amtrak temporarily cancelled one daily "Northeast Regional" round trip and allowed the "Palmetto" to take local passengers north of Washington. Stops at , BWI Airport, , and were added to the "Palmetto".
Consist.
The "Palmetto" generally operates with a General Electric GE Genesis P42DC diesel locomotive, a Viewliner baggage car, an Amfleet I business class car, an Amfleet I cafe car, an Amfleet I coach, and three Amfleet II long-distance coach cars. North of Washington, D.C. a Siemens ACS-64 handles the train. Unlike most Amtrak long-distance trains, the "Palmetto" does not have sleeping cars.
Route.
The "Palmetto's" route has not changed significantly since it first ran in 1976. It parallels the Florida-bound "Silver Meteor", making additional station stops. When introduced in 1976 it included two new stations: and Kingstree, South Carolina. Kingstree sees the "Silver Meteor" as well. The "Palmetto" added Selma, North Carolina (Smithfield) in October 1982. In October 2015, it added New Carrollton, BWI Airport, Princeton Junction, New Brunswick and Metropark. 
Unlike other long-distance trains that operate on the Northeast Corridor, the "Palmetto" makes local stops as well as major city stops. It stops in Metropark and BWI Airport in both directions, and serves New Brunswick and Princeton Junction southbound and New Carrollton northbound.
Before 2019, the southbound "Palmetto" followed the practice of most medium- and long-distance trains running in the Northeast, and did not allow passengers to travel only between stations in the Northeast Corridor. It only stopped to receive passengers between Newark and Washington. This policy was intended to keep seats available for passengers making longer trips. Starting in 2019, the southbound "Palmetto" began allowing local travel along the Northeast Corridor. The northbound "Palmetto" has allowed such local travel since 2015. 
Details.
The "Palmetto" operates over Amtrak and CSX Transportation trackage:
Bus connections.
In October 2012, Amtrak began operating Thruway bus routes in eastern North Carolina that connect to the northbound and southbound "Palmetto" at Wilson, North Carolina. One route serves Greenville, New Bern, Havelock, and Morehead City; the other route serves Goldsboro, Kinston, Jacksonville, and Wilmington.