According to local press reports, the Tri-Rail Company has reported that its trains will arrive in downtown Miami in late January, beginning urban transit service planned for 2016.
Tri-Rail, the cheaper, tax-subsidized alternative to Brightline trains on the I-95 corridor, finally announced this weekend that its Miami station will open on Saturday, January 13.
On that day, Tri-Rail trains will begin running from Brightline’s shared downtown complex to a regular Tri-Rail stop at Hialeah’s existing transit station that is already served by Tri-Rail and Metrorail.
“It finally became a reality,” said Raquel Regalado, a Miami-Dade County commissioner and Tri-Rail board member who helped oust the entity’s previous director over delays to Miami service. “We have overcome many hurdles,” he added.
Tri-Rail, the cheapest train option in Miami
Several setbacks delayed the launch, including the discovery in 2021 that the platform built for Tri-Rail at its downtown station was a little too wide for Brightline Tri-Rail trains, according to officials.
Two months later, then-Tri-Rail chief Steven Abrams announced his resignation, citing disagreements with Regalado and other board members.
Although Metrorail trains already serve the same route, Tri-Rail’s downtown link will be the first with express service. However, commuters will have to wait for the direct route from West Palm Beach to Miami that was proposed when the Tri-Rail project was launched.
Tri-Rail, funded by a combination of federal, state and local funds and operated by the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, currently terminates its Miami-Dade service south of Hialeah Station at Miami International Airport (MINE).
:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/SYRQ22M3WNCEFG4OVC5JISKOQU.png "New Year’s Day 2024: Opening hours for Costco, Walmart, Target, Sam’s Club and more stores on Sunday, December 31 and Monday, January 1 | United States | Mix")
