"The Floridian often had good loads during the winter, and the Midwest - Florida travel market is vast. Amtrak's New York - Florida route is popular, so why couldn't a Chicago - Florida route have similar success ? The answer lies in differences between the markets. Railroads offering New York - Florida service in the 1960s made money and offered high - quality service. Railroads in the Midwest - Florida market saw it as futile and eliminated or downgraded their trains. Chicago - Miami is 80 miles longer than New York - Miami, but because of route configurations the best time Amtrak might muster is 7 hours longer than the New York route. Amtrak's 1990 report observed that states along the Chicago - Florida route generate 60 percent of the travel volume of the Northeast - Florida market. Yet with a population 45 percent of New York, Chicago generated 30 percent as many airline trips to Florida. "This seems to suggest that there may be less of a Midwestern affinity, as compared to New York, to travel to Florida by common carrier," the report concluded.