Tri-Rail
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| Tri-Rail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Info | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | Regional rail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locale | South Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Terminals | Miami International Airport Mangonia Park |
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| No. of stations | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Daily ridership | 14,391 (3.5 million, annual 2007)[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | South Florida Regional Transportation Authority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator(s) | Veolia Transportation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Character | At-grade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 72 mi (116 km) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tri-Rail is a Regional rail line linking Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, Florida, United States. It is run by the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority. The 72 miles (116 km) system has 18 stations along the South Florida coast. The rail connects to the Metrorail in Miami at the Tri-Rail/Metrorail Transfer Station.
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[edit] Overview
Formed in 1987 by the Florida Department of Transportation, the system originally was created to provide temporary commuter rail service while construction crews widened Interstate 95 and the parallel Florida's Turnpike, but Tri-Rail outlasted its temporary status, adding more trains and stations in the process. Line extensions have enabled Tri-Rail to service all three South Florida international airports: Miami International Airport, Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and Palm Beach International Airport (the latter from the West Palm Beach station after the closing of the Palm Beach Airport station in 1997).
Tri-Rail shares its track with Amtrak's Silver Meteor and Silver Star and CSX's Miami Subdivision. The Florida Department of Transportation purchased the track from CSX in 1989. Under the terms of the agreement, CSX would continue to provide dispatch services and physical plant maintenance for the track and would have exclusive freight trackage rights until certain conditions were met.
In 1998, the initial 67 miles (108 km) route was extended north from West Palm Beach Station to Mangonia Park Station, and south from Hialeah Market Station (formerly Miami Airport Station) to the new Miami Airport station. Construction of the extensions began in 1996; this brought the system to roughly 72 miles (116 km).
In 2007, a project to upgrade the full length of the line from Mangonia Park to Miami Airport with double-track was completed with the opening of a high-level fixed bridge over the New River near Fort Lauderdale. Once several other modernization projects are completed, the SFRTA will assume full responsibility for dispatching and maintenance from CSX.
Like many other commuter rail services in the United States, Tri-Rail utilizes Bombardier BiLevel Coaches, but as of late 2006, has begun adding bi-level rolling stock from Colorado Railcar.
The completion of the New River rail bridge and the addition of a second Colorado Railcar DMU ushered in sweeping changes to Tri-Rail's operational timetables. Tri-Rail added several more trains during peak weekday commuting hours in June 2007. During "rush-hour," trains run every half-hour rather than the previous schedule of every hour. This change comes at quite a fortuitous time in Tri-Rail's operation history. With gasoline prices at record highs--particularly in South Florida's sprawling metropolis--Tri-Rail has seen a double-digit percentage increase in ridership in mid-2007.
In the 2025 and 2030 long range transportation plans, Tri-Rail has envisioned moving to or adding service on the Florida East Coast (FEC) rail corridor, which runs next to U.S. Route 1 (Biscayne Boulevard/Brickell Avenue in Miami-Dade County, and Federal Highway in Broward & Palm Beach Counties). This corridor will provide more opportunities for pedestrian travel from stations to end destinations than does the current South Florida Rail Corridor, which must rely almost exclusively on shuttle buses for passenger distribution.
[edit] Station list
Currently, the Tri-Rail has six stations in Palm Beach County, seven in Broward County (Greater Fort Lauderdale), and five in Miami-Dade County.
[edit] See also
[edit] Fleet
The service began with MKO F40PHL-2 locomotives and Bombardier BiLevel Coaches originally destined for GO Transit, but diverted from the original GO order. Tri-Rail later took delivery of several MKO F40PH-3C locomotives, and two ex-Amtrak F40PH's. Recently, several EMD GP49 locomotives were acquired from Norfolk Southern and were rebuilt by Mid America Car Company to the designation GP49H-3.
In 2003, after receiving a grant from the Florida Department of Transportation, Tri-Rail contracted to purchase two pieces of rolling stock from Colorado Railcar: a self-propelled diesel multiple unit, (DMU) prototype coach and standard bi-level coach entered regular service with Tri-Rail in October 2006. The new purpose-built commuter coaches are larger than the Bombardier BiLevel Coaches they are designed to eventually replace in practically every respect, holding up to 188 passengers, with room for bicycles and luggage.
The prototype Colorado Railcar consist, with its non-powered cab coach, was once coupled to one of the fleet's EMD GP49-3 diesel locomotives as a "helper" measure during regular service. Sources at Tri-Rail had indicated that temporary, steeper-than-normal grades during construction on the New River Bridge required more power and torque than the DMU's powerplants could effectively produce and still operate within safety limits. With the completion the New River Bridge in April 2007, and the expanded rush-hour schedules implemented in June 2007, Tri-Rail has acquired an additional Colorado Railcar DMU to replace the "helper" locomotive, and also acquired an identical Colorado Railcar three-coach consist of two DMUs and a non-powered cab coach in early 2007. The two three-coach consists now carries roughly 560 paying passengers each in regular revenue service along the line.
The DMU consists are generally considered more comfortable in terms of seating than the Bombardier coaches they were acquired to replace. However, they suffer from a lack of bicycle and luggage storage that have been a continual source of irritation and complaints from daily and airport commuters ever since the DMU's original prototype phase. Additionally, wheelchair accessibility is compromised by the entrance steps necessitated by the unit's higher floorboards (required to clear the Detroit prime movers). This problem remains uncorrected, despite the acquisition of the new Colorado Railcar rolling stock.
Additionally, operators contended that a single DMU and trailer car are underpowered for both sufficient in-service acceleration, and could not effectively negotiate the 40+ foot grade over the New River Bridge without a helper locomotive, thus defeating the purpose a of a self-propelled coach. The addition of a second DMU to the two car motor/trailer consist has since appeared to solve the problem of the New River bridge grade, but acceleration still remains an issue in practice. Whether the DMU's prime movers will accept the strain of present revenue operations remains to be seen.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Tri-Rail Official website
- South Florida Regional Transportation Authority
- South Florida East Coast Corridor Study - Study by the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority to reduce congestion and increase mobility in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.
- Transit Miami
- Colorado Railcar
