MIAMI — Amtrak has ended plans to move its operations to a station at Miami International Airport.
The news site Miami Today reports that the passenger operator sent a short letter to officials involved with the Miami Intermodal Center at the airport, saying it “currently not feasible” to move operations of the Silver Meteor and Floridian to the airport facility.
The facility at the airport has been used by commuter operator Tri-Rail since 2015, but while a portion was built specifically for Amtrak, the company initially declined to move in because its long-distance trains would have blocked 25th Street at the north end of the station. Florida’s Transportation Department spent $5.6 million developing a bypass route to address that problem; after that was completed in 2017, Amtrak continued to balk at lease terms for the new station. Talks about a move were revived in 2022 [see “Amtrak switch to Miami airport station again moving forward,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 29, 2022], but no resolution resulted [see “Amtrak’s move to Miami airport station still in limbo,” News Wire, Jan. 8, 2024].
Serving the airport would have required a 4-mile backup move between Amtrak’s current station in Hialeah and the airport, because a loop at Hialeah is the nearest place to turn trains. The deadhead moves between Hialeah and the airport would have extended time on duty for Amtrak crews and decreased the servicing window. But the airport station offers better access to downtown, as well as access to rental-car facilities and other amenities not available in Hialeah.
The letter from Jim Blair, Amtrak assistant vice president, host railroads, said that decision was based on a recent evaluation of the intermodal center. He said the company will instead “advance our alternate plan” at the Hialeah facility, about 9 miles northwest of downtown (the airport facility is about 6 miles away). Work at Hialeah will begin in spring 2025 and continue into 2028, Blair wrote.
Amtrak’s decision became public at a meeting earlier this month of the Miami-Dade County Citizens’ Independent Transportation Trust. The trust’s chairman, Robert Wolfarth, said the letter was “really kind of shocking” to get Amtrak’s letter, given that headway had been made on the lease and other issues. Ana Quero, rail administration manager for the Florida DOT, told the trust that the state will now try to find another use for the Amtrak portion of the station.
