Tri-Rail ready to come downtown, wants trains on the tracks
Tri-Rail is pouring on the oil as it races to serve downtown Miami Central Station and is itching to get its trains on the tracks.
“We’re working with Brightline and FEC to gain physical access to the corridor,” David Dech, executive director of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which runs Tri-Rail, told the Miami-Dade Citizens’ Independent Transportation Trust last week.
But that’s the rub: as publicly owned Tri-Rail takes final steps to enter downtown, it still must deal not only with mountains of federal rules but also Brightline, the privately owned intercity passenger service with which it will share the station and rails, and FEC, the private freight railway that owns and also uses the rails.
Getting that four-party group onto the same track together has been putting the brakes on Tri-Rail entry into downtown for a decade. But Mr. Dech told the trust why he thinks it can finally happen – and soon.
First, he said, problems getting Tri-Rail trains to fit into a station with a platform built to Brightline specifications have finally been overcome. Train steps for passengers had stuck out, hitting the platform. But now Tri-Rail has accepted platform modifications that make it work and has signed off with Brightline, he said.
“Since then, we’ve installed signage, the kiosks, we are installing 10 ticket vending machines – I think they’re all in there. We’re just kind of wiring them.”
The next job is to get fresh paint on those platforms, which have been weathering as they waited for trains that have never arrived.
But at the same time, Tri-Rail needs trained and certified controllers for trains in an increasingly busy rail corridor, which will be adding 26 Tri-Rail commuter trips a day to the longer passenger trips by Brightline and the freight runs by FEC as demand for freight service in Miami-Dade is also firing up.
“The FEC has trained the Brightline crews on the east-west portion so that they can then train us,” Mr. Dech explained to the trust. But Tri-Rail can’t do full safety certification until the Federal Railroad Administration certifies its trains. Then its lead people can get certified to teach the rest of the crews.
Tri-Rail’s locomotives don’t yet comply with federal rules. Four of 12 engines that would be used are in rebuilding, Mr. Dech said, and then will be sent – one by one – to Texas for the Environmental Protection Agency to test them for compliance.
Meanwhile, Tri-Rail has solved a dilemma: how to train dispatchers to work with other railroads that use the same tracks. Tri-Rail negotiated a settlement where there will be three fully qualified train dispatchers, one for each line, working jointly in a public safety communications center, which “really made sense for all three of us,” Mr. Dech said. All started work in March.
In another glitch, FEC just had a leadership turnover and demanded vast documentation, which Mr. Dech said led Tri-Rail to fire up and deliver it within two days. They were to talk this week about that.
“We’re comfortable with where we are with Brightline on the station,” Mr. Dech said. “We’re getting near the critical path for getting access to the alignment. We can still make our fall deadline, but [to do so] we need to get on that alignment pretty soon. We are pushing from every level of our organization and pulling every lever that we possible can to get that access.”
Matthew Dunstan
May 3, 2023 at 6:24 pm
Let’s Go!!
Tim L kirkwood
May 3, 2023 at 7:13 pm
All good news. I would be more interested in why they have not expanded the service up to Jupiter and down to Homestead. Best way to get more cars off the road.
Gilbert B Norman
May 5, 2023 at 7:41 am
Mr. Kirkwood, I certainly must acknowledge that the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) has become far more receptive to passenger trains in the immediate past than they have since a strike removed all of such from their rails during January 1963.
Now if Tri Rail were to operate North of West Palm into Martin County on the FEC, as you have suggested, the physical interchange between CSX (SAL; predecessor) and the FEC located at 25th Street would need to be reactivated and new access through the NW quadrant of such added.
I defer to others regarding the feasibility of operating Tri Rail service Southward to Homestead to others, as my familiarity with the regions largely with downtown Miami.
ArthurPFLLMIA
May 4, 2023 at 8:32 am
I am very happy to see the options for travel between Broward and Dade counties expand and that Tri-Rail has been making strides negotiating with the necessary partners to make further expansion possible.
Earnest Milton
May 4, 2023 at 11:20 am
Tri rail is the most economical tri city, working working persons, public transportation that we have between the three counties. It would expand opportunities, job opportunities, and other potential opportunities so yes! Let’s bring tri rail to downtown Miami
Miami Man
May 4, 2023 at 2:54 pm
Let’s pray that the train-traffic controllers of the governmental entity that is Tri-Rail, and the train-traffic controllers of the private entity that is Brightline are on the same page for the daily sharing of the train tracks by their respective trains. Service will only increase for both train entities,, so the right-of-way timing that these Controllers use for use of the tracks will need to be extremely diligent and carefully thought out by each group to avoid crashes.
Mohammad Alajarmeh
May 5, 2023 at 1:51 am
we are exited to have trirail expand to DT. bright line tickets are not affordable for everyday user
TOM G
May 8, 2023 at 4:19 pm
What I saw in this article were new issues and the line, “[w]e can still make our fall deadline, but…”
Christopher
May 8, 2023 at 4:56 pm
Will we ever see new trains for the Tri-Rail or are we destined to keep the POS old trains?
anonymous
May 17, 2023 at 4:44 pm
As for the locomotive and train cars, they are staying, but they are changing the engine in a third of the fleet and repainting all their trains.
James Nickoloff
May 12, 2023 at 7:05 am
What is the route that Tri-rail will use to get to Miami Central Station? And what happens to the airport station?
Jonathan Nelson
May 22, 2023 at 5:20 pm
Has everybody forgot about poor Amtrak? Wouldn’t it be nice if Amtrak would leave and arrive out of Central station and have another stop in Hialeah the way Seaboard did Miami and Hialeah back in the day.
Let’s forget about the boon-dongle Amtrak station at the airport. It closed before it ever opened!
Jonny Nelson People that take Amtrak rarely get near a jet aircraft. Amtrak, where are you?
!