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Tri-Rail opens Miami airport station
That looks like a beautiful station, at least, from what I can see of it from the picture.
Hope to ride there soon if I can get a chance.
Was pleasantly surprised by the Tri-Rail when I took it a few months ago. Was told it was very run down and unpleasant, and it doesn’t have all the modern conveniences, but the only thing of importance missing was refreshment service (would a vending machine take up too much space?) Seating was comfortable, train was mostly clean, toilets excepting, and ride was fairly smooth. If I have to fly from Miami I’ll probably take it next time.
Intermodal connectivity keeps expanding in the US. We’re slowly catching up with Europe and Asia.
Having to take a shuttle between the station and airport misses the mark.
Meanwhile planners and builders could not figure out how long Amtrak train consists are (train length) consequencially streets just north of the station would be blocked if a Amtrak train was backed into this stub (end of track) station. (Maybe they could build a multi million dollar highway style bridge out over the dranage canal and golf course south of the complex. )
Its a gorgeous station, seen it first hand a couple weeks ago.
@MICHAEL J MOSS - The name is a misnomer, it’s more the original attempt to create a central transportation hub for Miami. So there being a fast shuttle to the airport makes sense in context (bear in mind nobody thinks twice about catching similar shuttles within airports from parking lot to terminal, or indeed from terminal to terminal.)
This is what kind of shuttle we’re talking about BTW: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIA_Mover
Taking a shuttle to the terminal is no big deal. What misses the mark is not having Amtrak in the new station with access to rental cars. I believe the last itme I took the train to Miami, the cab fare to the airport rental location was about $17 through some scary neighborhoods. The return early in the morning was no better.
ROBERT J MCGUIRE - Amtrak plans to move to the new terminal too. There is an embarrassing story related to that: early on when the center was being designed, Amtrak and the designers forgot to talk to each other about how big Amtrak’s trains are. The result is that the original platform is too short. Worse, there’s a road right next to it.
So longer Amtrak trains will be basically blocking the road while they’re waiting at the station, and passengers will be boarding (or detraining) from a split platform on either side of the road.
But the good news is they’re definitely going to stop there.
When Amtrak moves to the MIC, trains will no longer stop at the current facility Amtrak is now using in Hialeah, which is not really an ideal neighborhood for a train station. The Miami Metro does not stop there, and the Metrobus line that was serving the station has long been discontinued. The building will likely be turned into a training center and office for Amtrak personnel. MIC will have much better intermodal connections than the current location, but its only problem is that it will be too small from the start.