A place in the sun for rail: Tri-Rail is double-tracking and Miami Metrorail is again in motion

Railway Age, May, 2004 by Luther S. Miller

Metrorail projects are waiting in line with a host of others across the nation that are straining to move from the FTA's preliminary engineering list up through the final design category and finally into the coveted full funding circle. Bradley says Miami-Dade Transit already has $100 million from the state to build the high-priority extension from Earlington Heights Station to the Miami Intermodal Center.

Metrorail has more in store for its customers than route expansion. The line's 136 cars are 21 years old and long overdue for mid-life refurbishing. Scheduled to begin eight years ago, the overhauls, estimated to cost $300 million, have now been made possible by the transit tax. Washington Infrastructure Services, Inc., is drawing up specs, and a contractor will be selected this summer. Air conditioning systems will be repaired, floors restored, and seats replaced. Also in line for rehab are 12 of the 29 people-mover cars used on the downtown Metromover loop, a service that is free to riders.

Metrorail's connection with the rest of southeastern Florida is Tri-Rail, whose commuter trains share a 72-mile route with Amtrak intercity, trains and CSX Transportation freight trains. The route traverses Florida's three most populous counties: Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach. In recent interviews, Tri-Rail officers described the evolution of a "temporary" commuter railroad that is now in its 16th year of operation and positioned to grow. Its long-time operator, the Tri-County Commuter Rail Authority, has legally changed its name to the more geographically ambitious South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA).

When Tri-Rail went into service in 1989, it was a five-year traffic mitigation project while I-95 was under construction. I-95 construction goes on and on and on, with the result that Tri-Rail has become a permanent fixture on the landscape. "Tri-Rail has become the veritable backbone of the region's mass transit system because Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade county buses, as well as Miami's Metrorail, feed passengers to the system and are supported by it," says SFRTA.

In the early '90s, in the wake of Hurricane Andrew, there was a sea change in commuting patterns. With large portions of Miami-Dade wiped out, many people moved to Broward County and to Palm Beach County but maintained their employment in Miami-Dade. The result was that Tri-Rail experienced an influx of riders, 11,000 to 14,000 people a day. During the mobility, crisis, they rode free.

Once the railroad imposed fares in the late '90s and began to enforce zero tolerance for fare-beaters, its revenue increased but ridership went into steep declines.

"In August 2000, we went to a clock-face schedule, which 95 construction goes on and on and on, with the result that Tri-Rail has become a permanent fixture on the landscape. "Tri-Rail has become the veritable backbone of the region's mass transit system because Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade country, buses, as well as Miami's Metrorail, feed passengers to the system and are supported by it," says SFRTA.