Saturday, September 12, 2015

Commuter rail between Palm Beach County and Miami is "going to happen"

Note that Tri-Rail will be in addition to All Aboard Florida. How the Coastal Link will fit into this is unclear; if anyone has current information please forward it to me.

Here is an excerpt from the article by Alfonso Chardy and David Smiley at the Miami Herald:
     Despite lingering questions about funding, Tri-Rail trains are expected to begin operating between downtown Miami and Palm Beach County by 2017, the commuter rail service’s chief said Wednesday.
     “It’s going to happen,” [emphasis added] said Jack Stephens, executive director of Broward-based South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, SFRTA. “We’re looking at having it operational in the first or second quarter of 2017.”
     The authority is still seeking a large chunk of the funding for the project from the Florida Department of Transportation. But Stephens’ statements, in interviews with el Nuevo Herald, the Miami Herald and at a Beacon Council transportation conference in Miami on Wednesday, marked the first concrete indication that the Tri-Rail plan to bring its passenger trains to downtown Miami will be a reality.
Here are the links to Tri-Rail and All Aboard Florida to learn more.