Realities behind Amtrak’s ‘new’ train to Florida

Amtrak has a shortage of these bilevel train cars on its western long-distance trains
because it cut maintenance staff during the pandemic. Amtrak hasn’t fully reinstated
them and has dozens of cars awaiting overhauls and other routine work. So Amtrak
is taking the bilevel cars from its Chicago-Cleveland-Washington DC service, seen
here, to keep its western trains running. Normally, Amtrak visits Cleveland in the
pre-dawn hours except when trains are very late, as was the case here on July 17,
2023 (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

While Amtrak’s press release about the creation of a direct-but-temporary Chicago-Florida passenger rail service through Cleveland touted it as an achievement, the reality behind it is actually quite different. According to several sources, the direct service is being implemented to rescue Amtrak from its own shortcomings — both internal and external.

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