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.
Bob, 29 years since I worked on the initial feasibility for this station (including walking the existing wye) for Tri-Rail as client – – time flies except if you work for Amtrak.
Not totally familiar with south Florida so I have trouble understanding why someone would fly into Miami and transfer to Amtrak. The major cities with Amtrak stations north of Miami have their own airports. If I want a cruse out of Port Everglades I fly into Fort Lauderdale. I wouldn’t fly to Miami and take Amtrak North. For smaller Amtrak stops fly into an airport north of Miami and take Brightline south.
It’s not mentioned in the article, but Amtrak has stated to the press in earlier interviews that they want 100% access to the airport luggage routing facility, so passengers can transfer luggage directly from an incoming flight to an Amtrak consist and vice versa.
The station as built today requires passengers to either red cap or pull their own luggage to the platform and check their luggage in. Or take it through airport TSA via the airline check in desk.
Amtrak does not pay the passenger facility charges that the airlines pay to use the luggage sort facility provided by the Port of Miami. The current station has *no* accommodation to be connected to the luggage facility.
So Amtrak refuses to use the station until they get a bonafide long term agreement in place that treats them as an equal to an airline.
Amtrak is in no way equal to an airline but that’s OK it’s not meant to be. I’ll continue to fly to Miami and arrive in 3 hours rather than 2 days. I’ll fly first class at a fraction of the cost of a roomette let alone a bedroom which is the only overnight accommodation on Amtrak that my wife will agree to use. I’ll arrive the same day I leave and be greeted much more pleasantly than I would be by Amtrak’s gate dragons. The rental car counter is just a short (or moderate depending on the gate) walk away rather than a long walk in a sketchy industrial area after dark and I’ll be able to explore at my own convenience rather than using public transportation. Although at one time I would have appreciated being able to use the airport station or even a station downtown but no longer.
This poster wants this service to start. However, not as a major expense increase for Amtrak. As well the wye does need restoring and who pays the cost for that restoration including track, switches, & signaling? Crossing La June Road and the E-W toll way exit / entrance will still be complicated. Amtrak would probably block those roads 3 – 5 minutes depending on how quickly the train can reverse. That is major, major grade crossing with all the impatient driver problems.
Let us look at what Amtrak may be facing with the lease. Tri Rail has proved nearly impossible to deal with. Just look at the downtown Miami station mess with Brightline. Lease termination clause? Just how long does the lessor of the airport station want the lease? Termination clause? Is the lessor wanting Amtrak to pay no matter if Amtrak leaves or not? Shared costs, what are the percentages?
What are the costs if 91 or 97 arrive much later than the 2250 weekday last arrival of Tri Rail? Is Tri Rail demanding its personnel stay over as well? Those delays will happen we know several times a year.
I’m very grateful you picked up on this Amtrak failure.
February travel to South Florida from Boston is well coordinated, from the NEC to the Meteor. When you get to Miami it all falls apart. When I get to Miami, I need a car and there’s no place more convenient than upstairs from the Tri-Rail platform. That’s another reason to get the Silver Service into the airport. Easy mobility.
But no. I have to do as you suggest and take Tri-Rail from Hollywood. An absolutely unnecessary time suck.
I want to thank Bob Johnston for continuing to pose the questions to Amtrak that need to be asked. Keep up the great work
This has been a real cluster mess. I have been following this for a while since we were taking Amtrak Boston to Miami frequently. First, there are videos on YouTube that show a full size Silver test run that DID fit in the station clearing SW 25th Street. Second, when they built the bypass they stupidly severed the existing wye which could have been used if Amtrak wanted to turn the trains there instead of having the four mile backup move. Third, Hialeah is in the middle of nowhere in an unpleasant industrial area where there are no facilities like car rentals or hotels. This change would bring Amtrak into the modern age of transportation more like Brightline.
When I took the train home from Florida in 2021, I returned my rental car at the airport and took Tri-Rail to the Hollywood station. It was very simple to do. Amtrak is just being stupid.
Wow 5.6 million for a few signs, sensors and relays. Somebody hit the jackpot when they won that bid!
Par for the course for Florida, my County is spending $15.5 Million for a 1.5 mile road extension that’s been planned for 20 years now. Yes they could have done it very easily 20 years yet kept kicking the can around.
That’s just a 2 lane basic road with stop signs on one end and a light at the other.
It is a missed opportunity for Brightline to collaborate with Tri-Rail and Amtrak on developing a shared terminal for a true downtown “Union Station”. Hialeah (which I regard as the ‘Emeryville of the East Coast’) would have continued functioning as a turning and service facility absent any more ergonomic location.
I would say it is an insult to compare Emeryville from the sounds of what is in and around Hialeah station. Emeryville at least has multiple and growing residential, hotels and commercial space in and around the station itself as well as easy rideshare/shuttle bus to UC Berkley, to San Fran via bay bridge and the fact that Amtrak/Capital Corridor share several stops/stations along the East and South Bay connecting a good chunk of Bay area.
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On other hand, can see the comparison as there is no real good Bay Area Amtrak station sharing an easy connection with BART let alone direct access to downtown San Fran and the airports themselves. Amtrak/Bart will be a lot closer once BART is extending through San Jose but sill only covers South Bay. Very different then the efforts to make LA Union Station in southern Cali a much more viable and functional rail center.
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In other words, shame how powers to be are blowing a slam dunk for connecting Miami, region & the airport