MIAMI—South Florida commuter operator Tri-Rail will begin expanding its ridership base by initiating service to Brightline’s center-city Miami terminal next Saturday, Jan. 13, but Amtrak continues to delay moving its long-distance Silver Star and Silver Meteor from an isolated facility 80 blocks north of downtown at Hialeah to a modern Miami International Airport station that Tri-Rail has been using since 2015.
Both Tri-Rail’s pandemic-interrupted move [see “Tri-Rail sets date to launch …,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 5, 2024] and Amtrak’s use of the airport station suffered issues contributing to the delays.
Track clearances at MiamiCentral’s low-level Tri-Rail platforms required modification and Florida East Coast’s signal technology had to be synched with the commuter carrier’s equipment even before crew training could begin.
At the Miami Airport station, planners had failed to realize any Amtrak train would block busy Northwest 25th Street while loading or unloading passengers. It took more than two years for a $5.6 million signalized traffic detour system, paid for by the Florida Department of Transportation, to be installed. But by then, Amtrak management’s emphasis on growing national-network business had changed under the leadership of CEO Richard Anderson and his successors.
Moving from Hialeah, where Amtrak’s maintenance facility is also located, would require a 4-mile backup move in one direction and the company would have to begin paying a share of expenses to maintain the facility. However, the Silver Star makes a similarly long backup in each direction daily from a wye east of Tampa to serve that city’s venerable Union Station. Another apparent stumbling block: Amtrak also continued to find fault with lease obligations at the $2 billion facility it didn’t pay to construct, as revealed in 2022 [see “Amtrak switch to Miami airport station again moving forward,” News Wire, Sept. 29, 2022].
A “lease termination clause” was a sticking point then, though Amtrak representatives have been repeatedly non-responsive to subsequent NewsWire inquiries. We asked on Dec. 4, 2023, following the company’s public board meeting, what has prevented its trains from using the airport station, what issues remain, and when Amtrak expects those issues to be resolved. As of Jan. 5, 2024, those questions remain unanswered.
Meanwhile, airline passengers who arrive at Miami International Airport usually walk what seems like a mile from a far-flung gate through baggage claim to the “ground transportation” area where they line up at the airport’s rental car counters. This facility and parking garage is adjacent to the Tri-Rail station Amtrak isn’t using as well as the MetroRail station serving the entire metropolitan area.
Moving from Hialeah would certainly increase costs, but also visibility, relevance, and ability to generate additional patronage for Amtrak while offering convenience and amenities to passengers they are now deprived of at the current facility. Until that happens, the best choice for South Florida travelers riding the Star or Meteor seeking a full range of local transportation alternatives is to avoid Hialeah by transferring at the joint Amtrak-Tri-Rail stations at Hollywood, Fla., or Fort Lauderdale. Downtown Miami will soon be an option.
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