Northeast Corridor Commuter Rail Completes Development Phase

Miami-Dade County has completed the Project Development phase of the New Starts program for its Northeast Corridor commuter rail service between downtown Miami and Aventura, Brightline told investors yesterday.

The Project Development phase was completed in April, the investor report said.

The County submitted its request to the Federal Transit Administration for entry into the Engineering phase. Completion of the Engineering phase is expected to result in a federal grant agreement that in combination with the County and previously obtained State funding commitments will provide the final component of required funding for the project, Brightline said.

Brightline is expecting to receive $50 million in upfront payment and annual access payments Starting at $12 million for 30 years.

The project will include up to five new stations between the Miami Central and Aventura stations.

Implementation of the new commuter service will require additional track and rail infrastructure, as well as the construction of new commuter-only stations not served by Brightline. The commuter service may be separately branded and operated.

Brightline has prepared conceptual designs for stations and shared them with the County, identified station locations, and selected rolling stock provider options for the County compatible with their existing system.

Broward and Palm Beach are also considering an extension of the commuter rail system along the same tracks to as far north as Jupiter.

 

 

Miami-Dade previously approved $76M in funding for Brightline’s Aventura station:

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Anonymous
6 months ago

Brightline has done in a few short years what local government failed to do for a long time.

Cover the Podiums
6 months ago

This is the government actually, it just using Brightline tracks

Help
6 months ago

I’m confused, so this will be a commuter rail between Downtown and Aventura with multiple stops but use Brightline tracks but no operated by Brightline?

Anonymous
6 months ago

That sounds about right.

Recent Resident
6 months ago

What a mess.

Jameson
6 months ago

Way less a mess that the daily traffic down here

Cover the Podiums
6 months ago

yeah I agree its a mess, but it took me 1.5hrs to get from edgewater to aventura on a tuesday at 3pm

Azarius
6 months ago

Yeah it’s always been know Brightline wouldn’t operate the commuter line, this is where the extension of Mertorail or TriRail operating along the line or even both just each would be limited by the amount/location of stops

MKW
6 months ago

The commuter rail service contract went to Brightline 2 years ago. They will operate the commuter service, but it may be under a different brand. Cannot wait for this essential service to begin operation.

Anonymous
6 months ago

It should be another brand.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Yup – like Tri-Rail running on the FEC-Brightline tracks. It’s probably going to be a great thing for everyone except those with a car trying to pass over a grade crossing. Isn’t there some Federal money to eliminate/overpass some of these crossings (they are building one now just north of the Aventura station.

Anonymous
6 months ago

No because according the the bumpkin in charged of the Federal DOT, overpasses are ray-cyst barriers to communities.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Not overpasses! It’s ground rail and ground level highways that divide cities. That’s the entire point of elevating the 395 highway. That’s why the rail was elevated in Brickell to unite the neighborhood like 50 years ago.

Bruno
6 months ago

Wrong.

Dumb
6 months ago

Rail is elevated in Brickell for the purpose crossing the Miami river without impeding cargo ship traffic.

Bruno
6 months ago

Yeah….of course there is “Federal money”, Brickell people keep sending 6 figures to the Feds every year because the “We-needs” need other people to get out of their cars and pay for their ride.

anon
6 months ago

they’ll have to build new tracks, but its the same line, so run along side and brightline will run through them all

Jeffrey
6 months ago

What’s a mess exactly? The commuter rail gets to use existing railroad line-of-way that is owned by Brightline so less has to be built from scratch. That means trains will be up and running faster and at less cost. And we can relieve s9me of that horrible traffic that currently exists in that corridor.

Hello
6 months ago

I can’t believe brightline is treating tri rail like a stranger from out of town lmao

Azarius
6 months ago

They did it to themselves

Anonymous
6 months ago

Remind me what company Brightline is an offshoot of and what company built the same railroad it uses over 100 years ago?

Bruno
6 months ago

Florida East Coast Industries

Melo is sigma and Chad
6 months ago

Please let there be a station on 29th st and not the 36st design distract one.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Why not both?

Cover the Podiums
6 months ago

you will definitely get a stop on 29th st. There’s even an empty lot there. Also, many developers have already bought land in wynwood betting on this station.

Dan
6 months ago

I think for a slow train Brightline is a rip-off. We need real fast train in Florida for people who are not on vacation and need to travel quickly.

anonymous
6 months ago

100% but the problem is the tracks are all at ground level so they can never go fast enough. Traveling between miami and West Palm takes an hour on brightline when it should really take 30 minutes max

Anonymous
6 months ago

Reference daily news broadcasts for “A Florida man”

*NAME*
6 months ago

Brightline isn’t slow, it’s required to maintain lower speeds through heavily populated urban areas, as all trains are.

Bob
6 months ago

I’m sorry but this beautiful train is slow AF. Great for rich tourists. Useless for Floridians.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Rich tourists? Aren’t tickets like less than the price of a Miami cocktail?

Anonymous
6 months ago

Less than his craft beer and tapas in Wynwood, which he probably feels entitled should have a free Metromover expansion.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Just dropped someone off at 4:45 at Brightline Miami Station. He’ll be at FTL station in 38 minutes.
Cost was $10. Commute time express lane charges on 95 can be more than that.
Drive time right now is 1 hour 2 minutes. Definitely worth the cost.

Bruno
6 months ago

What about Floridians that provide so much economic value that other people will voluntarily pay for the value they are selling?

Many find that the train is not useless for them.

Anonymous
6 months ago

It’s not slow, it just maintains lower speeds. Got it.

*NAME*
6 months ago

yea, like every other vehicle on earth.

Anonymous
6 months ago

It’s a few municipality leaders who did that… their constituents are too slow to not stop on a railroad track.

Anonymous
6 months ago

No certain municipalities put up dumb regulations in North Miami to slow it down. They make an announcement about this reason. Those municipalities should invest in educating their public and safeguarding the intersections instead of slowing everyone else down! Get with it whatever municipality did that…

Anonymous
6 months ago

They are limited to 79 mph with all the grade crossings on the south end. 110 mph for the new section West Palm to Cocoa then 125 mph through a sealed corridor to Orlando. Speed costs money, a lot of it. BL is a private corporation not the government with almost unlimited funding. Each stop it makes slows it down to (takes time to brake and accelerate again). Brightline West will be building another RR between SoCal and Vegas that’ll be electric and travel at up to 200 mph.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Assuming the blowhards in California and Vegas don’t mess it up.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Wake up earlier.

Bruno
6 months ago

We-need

Anonymous
6 months ago

Maybe this will be up and running by the 2030’s.

transplant
6 months ago

Just build the metro rail on top of the Brightline tracks. So many problems would be solved.

Kurt
6 months ago

They are incompatible, and according to FRA rules, you can’t run third rail electrified trains next to freight trains

Anonymous
6 months ago

Timeline?

Anonymous
6 months ago

Does anyone know the proposed stations? is this the project that skippend 79th El Portal Street?

MKW
6 months ago

Correct. The 79th St station has been eliminated from the current plan. Not sure why that was done, but I’m sure that they could add it back in down the road.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Thanks for your comment! And yes, i hope it will come back in the future because… it does not make any sense.

Azarius
6 months ago

Yes

anonymous
6 months ago

The curve at 79 Street caused some issues with passenger rail service that would take time to solve. Instead of putting the whole project on hold they skipped it for now. Also think the Magic City lobbyist had stronger pull.

Anonymous
6 months ago

I think this is the plan https://www.miamidade.gov/global/transportation/smart-plan-northeast-corridor.page I am sorry, but this is really stupid that it goes from 61st to 123st, especially now that the old immigration building has been sold and could be redeveloped into a lot of new apartments.

Jared
6 months ago

Can’t believe that the “Proposed Services” are 60 mins off-peak and 30 mins rush-hour.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Pretty much like Tri-Rail.

Jay Ell
6 months ago

You’ve hit the nail on the head and recognize something that very few do. For all the hype by Miami-Dade government of “rapid transit” along a northeast corridor, that is NOT what is being delivered. Commuter rail is not rapid transit and elected officials haven’t been truthful about the northeast corridor service—it should never have been included in the SMART plan.

This is a corridor that should have metrorail service every 10-12 minutes peak and every 20 minutes minimum, off-peak. Ridership is guaranteed to lower than it could be with these horrendous headways, unfortunately.

Kurt
6 months ago

I’m sure headways will be decreased with higher ridership

Name*
6 months ago

“will be seperately branded and operated.”
Gee certainly not Tri-Rail?

Shawn Kouri
6 months ago

Oh, this is gonna be good

Anonymous
6 months ago

Delray Beach, Boynton, and Palm Beach Gardens should definitely add these.

Rcl
6 months ago

No one will rely on this mode of transit, doesn’t take you where you want to go when you want to go. Aventura station is empty

Kurt
6 months ago

Where do people want to go?

Doug DeNunzio
6 months ago

The way that the world interpreted the issue of the departure board is about a 3mm man of things.