Tri-Rail to expand service to Miami Central Station

Tri-Rail plans to soon add expanded service to Miami Central Station.

Although the goal was to start that service at the end of 2023, there are a few finishing touches left to finish, South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) officials told NBC South Florida.

"We’re trying to make sure we can mesh our schedule together with our partners at Brightline and the Florida East Coast Railway so we can have a seamless operation," SFRTA Executive Director David Dech said in the news report.

Tri-Rail, which is operated by the SFRTA, has been working for several months to modify platforms to fit its trains to serve the station. The goal of expanded service is to convince more commuters and travelers to use Tri-Rail instead of driving on Interstate-95 or the turnpike, said Dech.

"You’ve got Brightline into Miami Central, you have the MetroRail and the MetroMover. You have so many options, and this is just another complement," he said. "We’ve been running trains in and out of there for a couple months now, qualifying our crews and making sure everybody is good with the new service." 

Meanwhile, SFRTA reported that Tri-Rail ridership continues to increase in 2023 compared to a year ago. Tri-Rail ridership has averaged more than 300,000 monthly riders from January through November of this year, an overall 18% increase from the same time in 2022. Ridership is on pace to reach 4 million riders by year's end. Tri-Rail trains have averaged more than 13,000 weekday and 6,500 weekend riders between September and November.

Tri-Rail’s overall ridership has recovered 85% from 2019, when the commuter railroad logged its highest ridership year with 4,495,039 passengers. Weekend ridership has fully recovered back to 100%.