There are two "Auto Train" consists in simultaneous operation each day. At 4:00 pm, the trains depart from their terminals in Lorton and Sanford. They make one scheduled stop each for servicing only (passengers cannot board or disembark) at the approximate midpoint of the route in Florence, South Carolina, where the engines are refueled and a new operating crew boards (engineer and conductor). Southbound #53 arrives the next day in Sanford at 8:58 am, and northbound #52 in Lorton at 8:59 am, for average speed between termini of approximately .