Tri-Rail: South Florida's commuter rail
Story below based on the following sources:
Dateline: Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Florida
Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Date: Sunday, December 24, 2006
Story: Tri-Rail goal: Get on track, on time p. 2B
By: Michael Turnbell, transportation writer
Editorial: Issue: Tri-Rail carries 3 million in a year p. 4H
Source: Tri Rail website
Story: Train Tracking Status: Overview - http://www.tri-rail.com/double_tracking/fact_sheet.htm
Investing in Commuter Rail on South Florida's gold coast
by Richard M. Stowe
On December 11, 2006 Tri-Rail, South Florida's commuter rail line surpassed 3-million passengers in a one-year period for the first time in its eighteen year history. Also of note is that ridership grew by 36 percent for the summer months of June, July and August from 2005 to 2006. The 72-mile rail corridor, which runs parallel to Interstate 95, operates between Mangonia Park (north of West Palm Beach) and Miami Airport (east of the Miami International Airport).
What's fueling this burst in ridership? Its a nearly completed 338.5 million dollar project called the Double Track Corridor Improvement Program. The project includes building 43.5 miles of second mainline track, 24 new, rehabilitated or replacement bridges, signalization upgrades and full closure of all seventy grade crossings. The acquisition of five locomotives has allowed for the number of weekday trains to increase from by a third - from thirty to forty.
Just two more miles of double track await completion.
The crown jewel of the project, a new high level bridge spanning the New River in Fort Lauderdale, is scheduled to be completed this April. The double track bridge will replace a single-track drawbridge, which delays train passengers and boaters alike. In April ten more trains will be added to the schedule so trains will run in twenty minute intervals during peak hours.
Control of dispatch operations will also shift from CSX to Southern Florida Regional Transportation Authority, first on the high level New River bridge and then systemwide in a 491 million dollar agreement between CSX and the State of Florida announced in August. This agreement will not only improve on-time performance (Tri-Rail trains will now have priority over CSX freight trains), but also will allow future commuter rail expansion southward to Homestead and north to Jupiter.
Bicycling to and from Tri-Rail stations is easier now, too, because since December 2006, bicycle permits are no longer required when you take your bicycle on the train.
With these changes Tri-Rail is proving itself as a positive role model for other commuter rail operators, while at the same time providing both residents and sun seeking tourists with a viable alternative to Southern Florida's crowded Interstate 95 corridor.
Dateline: Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Florida
Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Date: Sunday, December 24, 2006
Story: Tri-Rail goal: Get on track, on time p. 2B
By: Michael Turnbell, transportation writer
Editorial: Issue: Tri-Rail carries 3 million in a year p. 4H
Source: Tri Rail website
Story: Train Tracking Status: Overview - http://www.tri-rail.com/double_tracking/fact_sheet.htm
Investing in Commuter Rail on South Florida's gold coast
by Richard M. Stowe
On December 11, 2006 Tri-Rail, South Florida's commuter rail line surpassed 3-million passengers in a one-year period for the first time in its eighteen year history. Also of note is that ridership grew by 36 percent for the summer months of June, July and August from 2005 to 2006. The 72-mile rail corridor, which runs parallel to Interstate 95, operates between Mangonia Park (north of West Palm Beach) and Miami Airport (east of the Miami International Airport).
What's fueling this burst in ridership? Its a nearly completed 338.5 million dollar project called the Double Track Corridor Improvement Program. The project includes building 43.5 miles of second mainline track, 24 new, rehabilitated or replacement bridges, signalization upgrades and full closure of all seventy grade crossings. The acquisition of five locomotives has allowed for the number of weekday trains to increase from by a third - from thirty to forty.
Just two more miles of double track await completion.
The crown jewel of the project, a new high level bridge spanning the New River in Fort Lauderdale, is scheduled to be completed this April. The double track bridge will replace a single-track drawbridge, which delays train passengers and boaters alike. In April ten more trains will be added to the schedule so trains will run in twenty minute intervals during peak hours.
Control of dispatch operations will also shift from CSX to Southern Florida Regional Transportation Authority, first on the high level New River bridge and then systemwide in a 491 million dollar agreement between CSX and the State of Florida announced in August. This agreement will not only improve on-time performance (Tri-Rail trains will now have priority over CSX freight trains), but also will allow future commuter rail expansion southward to Homestead and north to Jupiter.
Bicycling to and from Tri-Rail stations is easier now, too, because since December 2006, bicycle permits are no longer required when you take your bicycle on the train.
With these changes Tri-Rail is proving itself as a positive role model for other commuter rail operators, while at the same time providing both residents and sun seeking tourists with a viable alternative to Southern Florida's crowded Interstate 95 corridor.
posted by Richard Stowe at 1:54 PM
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