Lakeland

"Lakeland is highlighted here not necessarily as a tourist attraction although there is the Lemon Street Promenade. About half a mile from the station, Lemon Street offers a bunch of unique art features, green spaces and food options. Also, as the name suggests, Lakeland has a lot of….lakes. The station itself is situated on Lake Mirror, which has the Frances Langford Promenade Trail circling it. The main reason for Lakeland being highlighted is that it is the only station in the Amtrak system that has two different station codes and is served by the same train twice in a matter of about 1.5 hours. Located a few miles west of the main line down toward Miami, Lakeland is actually on a spur line. Therefore, the Silver Star serves the Lakeland station heading west and then again east as it returns from doing station work in Tampa. So, the LAK station code refers to the stop to/from all points north, while LKL is for all points to/from south. This is because passengers departing at Lakeland will be deboarded before the train heads further west to Tampa, while anyone boarding at Lakeland will wait until it comes back. This arrangement allows passengers to avoid an extra 1.5 hours of travel time for no reason. It can be pretty confusing, so don’t be afraid to reach out for help or contact Amtrak."