Passenger Trains > Palmetto Trip Report

Follow up to my Silver Meteor trip update, today I returned from Wilmington DE to Fayetteville NC via the Palmetto.  And again, nothing to complain about.  Pleasant crew, clean train, on time, and for the most part, full train.  Standard Palmetto consist - 4 coaches, cafe, business class coach, and baggage car (yes, coach only train offers checked baggage service).  I was in business class, so I didn't venture forward of the cafe, but I noticed the crew wasn't taking up tables.  Interesting, when the crew wasn't working, like when the cafe attendant took a break after the lunch rush, they all seemed to hang out in the baggage car. 

Some interesting observations:
The Palmetto carries a lot of NEC short traffic. Heavy turn over in Wilmington.  At BWI, a bunch of people all with lots of luggage got off and just as many or more with weeks worth of luggage got on.  Some of that BWI traffic got off at DC, but most got off at Arlington. Would seem that Amtrak is serving as an airport shuttle between northern Virginia and BWI.  Train was absolutely full between BWI and Arlington. 

The smallest passenger volume was Petersburg VA.  6 off, and only 1 on.

I was a little surprised at the volume in Wilson NC.  The are two Amtrak Thruway bus routes utilizing Prevoist motor coaches that connect with the Palmetto and Carolinian.  A northern route runs to Greenville (East Carolina University), New Bern, Havelock (Cherry Point Marine Air Station) and Morehead City, while a southern route runs to Goldsboro (Johnson AFB), Kingston, and Jacksonville NC (Camp Lajeune USMC).  There was a good 20 or more off train for EACH bus. 

Selma/Smithfield was busy too, with a lot off and a lot on.  Leaving Selma, a couple of the biz class seats where seeing their 3rd or 4th butt of the day in them.  The lady who was sitting next to me (and slept most of the trip) was returning home from Europe.  She had flown into JFK overnight, transferred over the the train and was headed home. She said it was so much more convienient to use the train as her family can drive 5 minutes to pick her up vs close to 2 hours each way to get to RDU, or to try to find a flight into Fayetteville and still have an plus drive.

Video of train arriving Wilmington and departing Fayetteville.  Interspersed in video is still of biz class coach interior and train parked in front of Segra Stadium in Fayetteville, home of the Houston Astro's Single A affiliate, the Fayetteville Woodpeckers. 

 

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Great trip report, thank you!  I have ridden the Palmetto southbound twice, and my experience was similar to yours.  It is a good train.  My sister takes it to DC now and again, and she loves it.  She is not a "train person," just a traveler.

Train looked clean on the exterior as well.  I take that back.  Looking at the departing video, it is kinda grimy.  But I have certainly seen worse.

Glad you had a nice tirp.  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/06/25 17:55 by Chessie1963.

Welcome "home"

scraphauler thanks for your trip reports !

Good trip report, thank you.  I was especially impressed with how the connecting buses actually connect with potential sources of business.  Obviously some thought went into planning the routes

Thank you for that trip report!!! Good to read!!!

I'm curious to know the benefit of Business class vs Coach on the Palmetto. You were riding
in an Amfleet 1 car without 2/1 seating and smaller windows. It seem's the fare is at least
$80 higher than coach. Since the Palmetto uses Amfleet 2 coaches, I would think it would
be much for comfortable with more seat pitch and legrest seats.

Amtrak did a smart move using Thruway buses serving the eastern Carolina cities. Back in 
the day Carolina Trailways ran many schedules from NYC/PHL via the Eastern Shore/Norfolk;
and from Richmond/Raleigh. Plenty of military used those buses mostly on Friday and Sunday.
Today, Greyhound does a poor job, almost totally forgetting these cities exist.
 

The same situation exists with the Pennsylvanian , they share the same consists , the Amfleet II coaches would seem to have more leg room, larger windows and do offer leg rests . The Amfleet I business class car on a Northeast Regionall train  is nicer than a standard Capstone coach , both are comfortable cars . Perhaps Amtrak should try to elevate what is offered on their trains , Business Class on the Acelas is coach .  Club Service was done away with in May 1999 on Amfleet trains other than Amfleet Metroliner Service  in " preparation for the upcoming high speed trains " ; the first HST arrived in December 2000.   The Business Class car on the Palmetto is a full 81500 series car with 2+2 seating  I beleive.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/25 18:41 by mvrr10.

50+ years into Amtrak, and the Palmetto route still has a multi-generational legacy of ridership from the good service of ACL/SCL. It helps that the Palmetto usually runs close to schedule. 

mvrr10 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The same situation exists with the Pennsylvanian ,
> they share the same consists , the Amfleet II
> coaches would seem to have more leg room, larger
> windows and do offer leg rests . The Amfleet I
> business class car on a Northeast Regionall
> train  is nicer than a standard Capstone coach ,
> both are comfortable cars . Perhaps Amtrak should
> try to elevate what is offered on their trains ,
> Business Class on the Acelas is coach .  Club
> Service was done away with in May 1999 on Amfleet
> trains other than Amfleet Metroliner Service  in
> " preparation for the upcoming high speed trains "
> ; the first HST arrived in December 2000.   The
> Business Class car on the Palmetto is a full 81500
> series car with 2+s I believe.

The Amfleet I Business Class car on the Palmetto AND the Pennsylanian is a 2+2 full "business class coach" with the smaller Amfleet I windows. You get free soft drinks in business class. Gone is the free newspaper, blanket, pillow or anything else. So if I had the choice to get a seat in the Amfleet II LD car with the larger windows on these consists, I'd take it, and spend less money than the premium business class fare in what would be considered a sub-par Amfleet I business class coach. Again, this is the problem with Amtrak's "branding." Longer distance travellers are going to be assigned to the Amfleet II coach as it is. So I would NOT pay the up-charge for business class. And travellers from Richmond to NYC are likely travelling for "business," while those south of Richmond are likely using the Amfleet I business class car for basic transportation but thinking they are getting an upgrade. Again, it may seem like semantics, but it would be more appropriate to ditch the "business class" term for some of these types of trains. I've made suggestions on another thread. Even in 1999 in Amfleet "Custom Class" (now business class) you got hot meals and such at your seats with an attendant! There WAS a differentiation. 

If I were running Amtrak, I'd develop a basic coach class across the system for trains - LD, State Supported, NEC. Then offer a "menu of sorts" to the states with perhaps three levels of options for a "premium" based car that the could "opt into" and differentiated by price and name based on design/layout of the car, amenities offered, accommodations, etc. Then the pricing levels to match each level of the three levels (aka business cars) they would get.....This is how you build a brand, better utility, and establish consistency. If the states don't want to chose a "premium car" - then it's an all coach train. Sure, the states have some of their own rail passenger cars they own, but Amtrak could still put forth a plan to modify, upgrade, or offer amenities to the state owned cars. Even an Airo car that offers a 2-1 seating in what is now termed business class would be part of this "premium" type car, or a more "comfortable" seat for the 2-1 Venture passenger car that exists. Or add better utility to the premium car in some way. I know, requires imagination, but it would "add value" and command a premium rate, rather than just trying to pull the wool over passenger's eyes with some of the "business class" designated cars that exist out there in train sets.  

JP, as usual, everything you write here is spot on and what any normal company would do.  You have given this way more thought than generations of VP's at Amtrak ever have.  Or will. This is so basic as to defy credulity.  For all of the criticism of 'airline execs' Amtrak has hired, funny enough, this is one thing most good airline execs understand, differentiation between different levels of classes and how to charge more for better ones.  Of course, somehow Amtrak has ended up with not very accomplished airline executives.  

Thank you for the trip report -- especially the bits about traffic from intermediate stops.

Kinda sorta confounds those siloing pax into say, those travelling from NYC to Savannah.

So called business class on Palmetto/Pennsylvanian means nothing more than a very expensive cup of coffee for "free" . 

My experience is that the business class car on the Palmetto and the Carolinian is usually (but not always) quieter because travelers with children tend not to pay extra for business class. This makes a difference if you are on the train for 12+ hours. Also, odds are that business class puts you closer to the cafe car. Unlike the Palmetto, the Carolinian regular coaches are Amfleet I so there's more of an argument to favor business class which gets you either a business class car or an Amfleet II coach. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/25 16:53 by ctillnc.

jp1822 - changed post to relect  2+2 seating  as opposed to typo in initial post.