Tri-Rail tearing down nine barriers to enter downtown Miami

Nine hurdles stalling the $70 million project to bring Tri-Rail trains into Miami Central Station are being cleared, says David Dech, executive director of the South Florida Regional Transport Authority, long after the original completion date of 2017.

Several factors have delayed completion of a link to the Brightline station. The tax-funded project is to add more Tri-Rail commuter service to the 72-mile South Florida Rail Corridor. Miami-Dade County funded almost $14 million and the City of Miami contributed $7.2 million. Although problems with the planned Tri-Rail station were known by March 2021, they were only made public last December.

The authority in July hired Mr. Dech to lead completion of this and other projects. Here’s what he told Miami Today about issues reported at past meetings:

1. A tri-party training agreement with Florida East Coast Railway (FEC), Brightline and Tri-Rail been negotiated and signed. “We have to qualify some of our crews,” Mr. Dech explained. “That means they have to send personnel down to ride the train with our people to make sure we are riding the trains safely in their territory.”

2. Training of FEC staff begins this month. The authority already reached an agreement with Brightline on how much is to be paid to the company. The only missing piece is the fees under negotiation with FEC. The training isn’t going to take long, Mr. Dech said.

3. Software upgrades are due in January to the Automatic Train Control System. A contract has been negotiated and signed.

4. Discussions are ongoing on a new dispatch desk: FEC was requesting that the authority include a new desk to direct the movement of trains over the tracks. “Although this territory is short, it’s a pretty busy and active place with a lot of road crossings, with a lot of things going on,” Mr. Dech said.

5. Work on the platform is near completion. Brightline has been working on resolving issues in the platform that were preventing trains from getting into the downtown station.

6. Maintenance agreements are still pending over exposed rebar that the SFRTA identified in 2019. Tests found that the passenger platforms were not installed with the proper quality controls in place but there are no safety issues. “There might be some increased maintenance costs later on,” Mr. Dech said. “I’m not an expert on concrete, but it’s nothing that’s going to prevent us from being able to open a new station.”

7. Working toward compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, SFRTA currently is overhauling a series of locomotives. The first is to be completed by the end of January, Mr. Dech said.

8. No issues are expected with bridges. Tri-Rail’s consultant recommended a 200% live load impact factor for the bridges and the viaduct infrastructure to carry the trains. Brightline built these at a 20% factor. As Miami Today reported in May, a Florida Department of Transportation review concluded that the impact factor that Brightline used was appropriate and didn’t raise safety concerns based on the maximum allowable speed of the trains and the loading of the bridges.

9. “We continue to work closely with the FRA, FDOT, FEC, and Brightline and we are progressing on schedule,” he said. The authority is working with the Federal Railroad Administration to complete a checklist of about 80 requirements prior to being able to bring the trains to the station. The Florida Department of Transportation, Brightline, the administration and its own consultants have been involved to narrow the list to just a few items, Mr. Dech said. So far, Mr. Dech qualifies the negotiations with Brightline and FEC as positive and productive. He said he is confident an end will be in sight for 2023.