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Front Page » Transportation » Tri-Rail plans arrival in downtown Miami by Nov. 1

Tri-Rail plans arrival in downtown Miami by Nov. 1

Written by on March 29, 2022
  • www.miamitodayepaper.com
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Tri-Rail plans arrival in downtown Miami by Nov. 1

“We are showing a revenue starting date of Nov. 1,” said Steven Abrams, executive director of the South Florida Transportation Regional Authority, about Tri-Rail service into Miami Central Station.

The long-awaited service that would finally bring decades-old public Tri-Rail into downtown Miami was supposed to be open by March 2017 but problems in design and construction of the station and the trains have delayed the $70 million tax-funded project. Issues known since March 2021 were only revealed by Mr. Abrams in December.

Mr. Abrams disclosed the estimated start date of revenue service in the March 25 board meeting. Trains would arrive only after the authority addresses the most recent problems found.

In a draft schedule emailed to board members to which Miami Today had access, the station’s final acceptance by Tri-Rail is listed as Sept. 23.

The first problem found by an engineers’ report commissioned by the tri-county rail line said the platform that private rail operator Brightline built for its future competitor has areas where the structure would hit the steps that stick out from trains’ exit doors.

To solve the issue, engineers undertook level boarding work with a step modification, expected to be finished by Sept. 23. Also needed was station platform rework, which began Feb. 2 and is to be done by July 29.

Miami Today reported in February that Brightline was working on a vertical clearance issue that was preventing train steps from fitting under the station platform, as well as on a horizontal clearance issue, caused by building a wall too close to the tracks and steps, providing minimum clearance for trains to pass.

The live load – the weight of the train – impact factor used in two of the four bridges that Brightline built should have been 200%, but instead, a live load impact factor of 20% was used. Mike Reininger, CEO of Brightline Trains, explained in a December meeting that global engineering firm HNTB developed the criteria that led to a 20% to 60% range.

The authority began a load rating analysis to measure the bridges’ live load capacities on Feb. 24 and it is to be completed April 8, according to the draft document.

Miami Central Station, the southern home of private Brightline, also has exposed rebar found in August 2019 that should be 2 feet below the top of concrete, Mr. Abrams explained in December. RC Consultants recommended a sonar test to identify whether the repair was properly done and to locate any other possible material defects.

The sonar scanning of the platforms concluded field activities on March 9, a PowerPoint presentation mailed to board members says. Efrain Bernal, project engineering manager, confirmed at the meeting that consultants are working on a draft report.

Tri-Rail also needed to update its Enhanced Automatic Train Control system to operate trains safely. The authority had a 1.0 version, while the proper version is a more advanced 1.4. The software upgrade to the 1.4 version is to be completed by June 6, the project timeline says.

The draft schedule says the update of the Tri-Rail website is to be finished Oct. 13. On the legal side, the change order to address construction of the buildout and the Brightline platform modifications are still to be determined.

Public investment to bring Tri-Rail into the already-functioning station is almost $43 million. The Southeast Overtown Park West Community Redevelopment Agency put in $17.5 million; Miami-Dade County $13.9 million; the City of Miami $7.167 million; Omni Community Redevelopment agency $3 million; and the Downtown Development Authority $1.267 million.

Tri-Rail, which receives state, county and federal funds, paid $21.8 million for the project, and Brightline paid the difference of about $25 million, a report of the Office of the Inspector General says.

6 Responses to Tri-Rail plans arrival in downtown Miami by Nov. 1

  1. DC

    March 31, 2022 at 9:44 am

    How can you predict it will open Nov 1st when studies re the safety of the “live load” of the spans (among other studies) aren’t completed? For example, what if the spans can’t ha the weight? Everyone involved with this should be embarrassed– especially Abrams. Hey, didn’t he resign because of his incompetence? What’s he still doing representing TriRail? Talk about not having any faith in the messenger.

  2. Raidel Oviedo

    April 3, 2022 at 3:58 am

    What an embarrassment. I think Brightline has known all along, as well as Tri-rail.
    It looks like no one is being held accountable for this.

  3. Ralph E. Rapa

    April 19, 2022 at 7:09 pm

    What does “we are showing a revenue service date of Nov. 1”. “Showing” and “providing” are separate concepts. I didn’t catch the nuance in the latest Newspeak dictionary. Any why is disgraced Steven Abrams continuing on as the mouthpiece for Tri-Rail? You couldn’t get a straight answer if your life depended on it.

  4. George Childs

    April 20, 2022 at 12:48 am

    All over the world, from India to Brazil and for 150 years train stations have been developed in which their most elemental aspects- train width, platform height, load tolerance of approaching bridges- have all successfully been figured out before construction began… But wait! This is Miami!

  5. Tony Rose

    May 4, 2022 at 9:06 pm

    Don’t believe it! Amtrak was originally coming downtown…oops station is too short!Have been waiting since 2017..what a model of inefficiency! Something tells me tri-rail will be to heavy..what a sham to the working people who would benefit..I drive to golden glades station when I could walk to bright line station 3 blocks away!

  6. Preston B.

    May 19, 2022 at 3:16 pm

    The weight calculations are based on percentage *OVER* the max weight of the fully-loaded trainset. Brightline did the calculations and construction based on a 20% overage. Tri-Rail now says they want 200% overage. The spans can hold the weight of the current trainsets, but not the requested overage margin. The question remains, did Tri-Rail communicate this to Brightline? Is this another reason why the Board was silent on the issue for nearly a year?

    Tri-Rail supplied Brightline with the carriage dimensions. But “forgot” about the little ledges that allows for level-loading (ADA access) so you don’t have to “Mind the Gap”, as you do in the rest of the world, while boarding.

    Just as the similar error by Amtrak prior to design of the MIC @ MIA resulting in the conflict of NW 25th St. not allowing for the Silver Star/Silver Meteor trainsets to fit into the station without blocking the street. It was admitted by Amtrak that it was their error… but SFTRA would have to bear the cost of corrections. Thus, we are still waiting for Amtrak service south of Hialeah!

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