County seeks someone to control new Northeast Corridor rail line

Written by Miami Today on January 8, 2025

Potential operating agencies for the Northeast Corridor Rapid Transit have been asked to show their interest in taking charge of the 13.5-mile segment of the Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (Smart) Plan.

The operating agency of the corridor won’t necessarily be running the trains between Miami and Aventura, the Citizens’ Independent Transportation Trust was told. What the request for information from the county seeks is someone capable of taking overall charge of a new railway.

That responsibility, explained Josiel Ferrer-Diaz, acting county transportation director, “includes forming an agency including a board that would basically set the policy for the actual commuter (railway) including handling everything from security, maintenance, everything else that deals with the actual procuring of vehicles and selecting an operator and everything else.”

Possible operators discussed informally for those trains under a chosen board have included public agency Tri-Rail, private railway Brightline and its owners, and the county’s transportation department.

The county’s request is merely to gather information at this point. “This is not a procurement document,” Mr. Ferrer-Diaz told the transportation trust Dec. 18. “There is no obligation for the department or for the county to respond to anything. It’s just to give us information on what the next step should be as we move forward.”

Plans for the Northeast Corridor moved rapidly ahead with the Federal Transit Administration in June announcing that the rail line could receive up to $389.5 million in federal grants. The actual grants, however, will depend on Congress passing them.

“I’m hopeful that they will,” trust Chairman Robert Wolfarth said. “We’ll have the opportunity at the beginning of next month” to make sure that they stay top of mind for Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee and is the ranking member of its Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee. “I want to make sure that he’s continuing to lobby for his hometown.”

The total capital cost of the project is estimated at $927.3 million. The $389.5 million potential federal grants would account for 42% of the total funding. The Florida Department of Transportation has committed $200 million (22%), with the remaining funds provided by the People’s Transportation Plan that the trust administers, completing the local funding commitment.

The rail line is targeted to provide commuter rail 19 hours a day and seven days a week starting in December 2027 over 13.5 miles of the Florida East Coast Railway corridor from downtown’s Miami Central Station to Aventura.

The Northeast Corridor marks the first segment of the planned 85-mile Coastal Link commuter rail, aimed at connecting Miami-Dade with Broward and Palm Beach counties.

In Miami-Dade, the project aims to leverage the existing rail corridor shared with Brightline and Florida East Coast Railway freight services. The aim is to integrate the Miami Central and West Aventura stations while adding five new stations, providing direct connections to Wynwood, the Design District, Little Haiti, North Miami, and the FIU North Campus.

Additionally, the project includes enhancements to the existing rail yard and rail vehicle maintenance storage facility in Hialeah owned by the Florida Department of Transportation.