MIAMI — Commuter operator Tri-Rail has received clearance to begin running test trains into Brightline’s MiamiCentral station next week.
WLRN public broadcasting reporter Danny Rivero has posted on Twitter a letter from Florida East Coast Railway that grants Tri-Rail’s parent, the South Florida Regional Transit Authority, authorization to run test trains into the Brightline station June 19 through June 23 between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Additional test dates are possible based on the results from these dates, according to the letter.
While the testing is a major step toward the long-delayed launch of Tri-Rail service to downtown Miami, Miami Today reports the actual launch may not come until late this year or early 2024. SFRTA Executive Director David Dech told Miami Today that it has “taken a little longer to get the access that we would have liked,” but that a “productive” call on June 6 addressed some of the logistics of the testing process. Dech had previously mentioned the possibility of starting service this fall.
Dech said the agency has signed agreements with FEC and Brightline allowing Tri-Rail to run 26 trains a day into Miami Central.
Tri-Rail service from MiamiCentral was originally projected to begin in 2017, but has run into a series of difficulties. Initially, the problems related to positive train control [see “PTC stalls Tri-Rail move …,” Trains News Wire, June 19, 2019], but it was subsequently discovered that some Tri-Rail cars would not clear the MiamiCentral platform [see “Tri-Rail service … faces clearance issues,” News Wire, Dec. 13, 2021]. The platform has since been modified.
I still can’t believe they signed an agreement before actually seeing if the cars could fit.