Amtrak Auto Train, Florida passenger trains running again after Jacksonville-area brush fires

ORLANDO, Fla. – Amtrak train routes are running in and out of Florida again after large brush fires in the northeast part of the state forced their cancellation Monday.

The Auto Train, Floridian and Silver Meteor trains were cancelled in the state on Monday, but the Silver Meteor and Floridian disembarked Tuesday from Miami, and the Auto Train was expected to leave Sanford Tuesday afternoon on time.

The biggest concern right now is a brush fire in Putnam County, which has burned over 4,100 acres and is 50% contained.

This fire started as two separate fires along the Putnam and Clay county line and has since merged into one large “unpredictable” fire, according to our news partners at WJXT in Jacksonville.

For some passengers, the disruption meant more than just a delay. Julie Bonser of Clearwater booked the Auto Train on Sunday with plans to head to Virginia.

“We got over here at 11:30 a.m. yesterday to get our car on the train,” Bonser said. “We went a couple hours north, and we got as far as Palatka train station and found out that there was a fire going on.”

The train sat at the Palatka station for about two and a half hours before being backed up south of the station. Bonser said a second train ahead of them also had to reverse course.

“They finally came across and said we had to go all the way back to Sanford, and that we were going to have to offload here because they were not going to let anybody through,” she said. “The train tracks were damaged beyond repair for any trains to go through.”

Bonser and other passengers stuck in Sanford spoke to News 6 while they were waiting for their vehicles to arrive, which were rerouted to Orlando.

“They had to take another train to go to Orlando, offload the cars, reload them — so then bring it back here,” she said. “That’s still about an hour away. So maybe by 1:00 p.m. we’ll be on the road. Fingers crossed.”

Krissy Summers, another passenger who was hoping to get to Massachusetts, said the cars didn’t start unloading in Sanford until around 3:30 p.m. Monday.

“For me, the fact that I’m able to drive home making these hotel stops, OK, I will make peace with it,” she said. “But there’s a lot around me that are struggling. They booked this in advance. They knew that they couldn’t make that drive, and they have to go through with the gas, the hotel stay, the uncertainty of their trip.”

Amtrak had also cancelled the Silver Meteor in Florida, which runs between Miami and New York City, with stops in Orlando, for Monday and Tuesday, as well as the Floridian, which goes to Chicago.