Gainesville, FL Thruway Bus?

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

In the Silver Service schedule, service to Gainesville (University of Florida) is marked in green as a Thruway bus but not listed separately as a Thruway bus like the Clearwater/Ft. Myers bus is. It appears to be part of the Silver Star but it really isn't (using Amtrak's schedule feature between PHL and Gainesville it is listed as 91 (6291)). Shouldn't they list 6291 separately from the SS/SM schedule as it isn't actually part of the SS? It would remove some of the clutter from the schedule which is full of clutter, requiring two full pages.

Also, who runs the Jacksonville-Gainesville bus route? Could they also connect another of their buses to the SM so you could take either Silver train from the NEC to/from the University of Florida?

 

[the_traveler]

I wish a connection to the SM was possible. I have a friend in Gainesville and tried to get there by train. However, the SS does not connect from upstate NY. (I could dp ALB @ 6 am, but I can't get a ride that early.) The return is even worse.

 

[dogbert617]

In the Silver Service schedule, service to Gainesville (University of Florida) is marked in green as a Thruway bus but not listed separately as a Thruway bus like the Clearwater/Ft. Myers bus is. It appears to be part of the Silver Star but it really isn't (using Amtrak's schedule feature between PHL and Gainesville it is listed as 91 (6291)). Shouldn't they list 6291 separately from the SS/SM schedule as it isn't actually part of the SS? It would remove some of the clutter from the schedule which is full of clutter, requiring two full pages.

Also, who runs the Jacksonville-Gainesville bus route? Could they also connect another of their buses to the SM so you could take either Silver train from the NEC to/from the University of Florida?

That's a good question. I just looked up that bus connection(through Gainesville, Waldo, Ocala, etc), and couldn't find an exact answer for myself on the Silver Service pdf schedule: https://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/616/295/Silver-Service-Palmetto-Schedule-110216,0.pdf

Have no clue if there is some sort of local shuttle, or if certain Lyft/Uber drivers would volunteer to drive people to/from the Palatka, FL Amtrak stop(closest station I could find to Gainesville).

 

[the_traveler]

The way it's shown on the schedule is very confusing! The connection is at Jacksonville, departing at 7 am southbound and arrival is at 10:25 pm northbound. I don't know who operates it.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

I believe it is a Martz bus, similar to those operating from Orlando and Tampa to Ft. Myers. I have never been on this particular route, but I see the bus parked beside the Jacksonville station when I ride the SS. Another thing to note about this bus is that it connects to the SS again at Lakeland, allowing passengers to use it to travel to South Florida. The Lakeland connection is likely the reason the SS has the connecting bus instead of the SM. If the bus waited for the SM, it would likely not make it to Lakeland or Winter Haven in time to meet up with either the SS or the SM.

 

[AmtrakLKL]

The bus connection runs between Jacksonville and Lakeland covering the stops formerly served by the Palmetto until 2004. Northbound passengers on 92 transfer to bus 6292 at Lakeland for carriage to Dade City, Wildwood, Ocala, etc. At those stops, the bus also receives passengers and takes them to Jacksonville connecting back to the same train 92 for destinations north. The same applies in reverse for 91/6291.

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

The bus connection runs between Jacksonville and Lakeland covering the stops formerly served by the Palmetto until 2004. Northbound passengers on 92 transfer to bus 6292 at Lakeland for carriage to Dade City, Wildwood, Ocala, etc. At those stops, the bus also receives passengers and takes them to Jacksonville connecting back to the same train 92 for destinations north. The same applies in reverse for 91/6291.

That might explain why those cities (minus Gainesville) are in the regular SS/SM table as they probably just used the same template from 2004.