MIAMI — South Florida’s Tri-Rail will launch its long-delayed service to and from Brightline’s downtown MiamiCentral station on Saturday, Jan. 13, the commuter rail operator announced today (Friday, Jan. 5).
Service will begin as a shuttle between the Metrorail Transfer Station in Hialeah on the current Tri-Rail route and MiamiCentral. Tri-Rail is terming the first two weeks as a “soft launch,” with service beginning with six trains a day in each direction, with trains added incrementally until they reach the full schedule of 13 trains in each direction.
“The day has finally arrived when the public can plan their direct trips in and out of Downtown Miami onboard Tri-Rail trains,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado, a member of the governing board for the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees Tri-Rail operations. “It has been years of hard work and coordination with many supporting partners throughout the region, so we celebrate this news with them, our supporters and mostly our loyal passengers.”
An updated schedule including the new service will be released next week.
MiamiCentral was built to accommodate Tri-Rail service, with a platform specifically for the commuter operator, but the introduction of service has been thwarted by issues including delays in positive train control certification for Florida East Coast Railway [see “PTC stalls Tri-Rail move to MiamiCentral …,” Trains News Wire, June 19, 2019] and the discovery that stairwells on some cars in the commuter operator’s fleet would not clear the station platform [see “Tri-Rail service to Brightline’s Miami station faces clearance issues,” News Wire, Dec. 13, 2021.] Tri-Rail test trains began running into MiamiCentral last June, and the operator had hoped to begin service by the end of 2023.
“We have worked through many challenges, which only makes the accomplishment of this major service enhancement for the public that much sweeter,” Regalado said in a press release. “The SFRTA governing board was ready to elevate the sense of urgency to get this project completed this past year that ultimately helped get it to the finish line.”
Tri-Rail’s 18-station, 73-mile route between Miami and Mangonia Park, north of West Palm Beach, currently has its southern terminus at Miami International Airport. Some trains will continue to serve that station, while others will serve MiamiCentral.
— Updated at 10:08 p.m. CT to correct date in opening sentence to Jan. 13.
Direct downtown access will be a boon for TriRail. The real tell will be how much cross pollination will happen with Brightline.
Good going Dave Dech!
The beginning of the main article has 31 January, two other places have 13 January.
13th is correct. I will fix.