Tri-Rail takes added safety measures as it heads downtown

One of the main obstacles to Tri-Rail trains rolling safety into a new downtown Miami terminal has been the issue of integrating grade-level tracks with passenger vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

South Florida Regional Transportation Authority Executive Director David Dech has taken the issue to task. A proposed MiamiCentral terminal schedule has been reviewed and found compatible by analysts for Brightline, with which it would share the terminal, he said, and is currently being reviewed by the Florida East Coast Railway, which owns the tracks.

Two safety systems, including Automatic Train Control, have been installed, he said, requiring investment and development.

“We will most likely repeat the efforts of providing dynamic signs and have staff at crossings when we prepare to start service,” transportation authority Public Affairs Director Victor Garcia told Miami Today. “We will have a media advisory and share our message with community partners to help us spread the word.”

“As part of our commitment to the community,” Mr. Garcia explained, “we’re providing dynamic messaging signs informing the traveling public to expect an increase in train traffic along the 23 crossings.

“Furthermore, we’ve deployed additional employees at the crossings equipped with train safety information. We have worked very closely with our partners to ensure that all tests were conducted with a variety of safety precautions, and we were successful in completing all tests safely and without incident.

“We are continuing to work with our partners as we enter the next training phase,” Mr. Garcia said.

The transportation authority has been working alongside Brightline and the Florida East Coast Railway in coordinating runs by non-revenue Tri-Rail trainsets between the South Florida Rail Corridor and MiamiCentral, traveling on the eight miles of FEC track that connects the Tri-Rail with downtown Miami.

“We did our first tests and training in June and our last set was completed last week,” Mr. Garcia said last week. “During these tests we performed our Designated Supervisor of Locomotive Engineers qualification rides as part of our training agreement. Tri-Rail trains successfully operated on the viaduct into MiamiCentral, where the trains fit the platforms perfectly.

The long-awaited $70 million tax-funded project to bring Tri-Rail into downtown was to be finished by 2017, Miami Today reported last month. The new launch date, Mr. Dech said, is by the end of 2023 or early next year.

While not derailing the project, blockages from exposed rebar to platform issues to negotiations with competitor Brightline and the Florida East Coast Railway had throttled its completion, Miami Today reported in mid-August.