Tri-Rail arrival in downtown Miami misses another schedule

A Nov. 1 start of Tri-Rail passenger trips at MiamiCentral Station is no longer feasible, Executive Director Steven Abrams told the South Florida Transportation Regional Authority Friday, another setback in long efforts to bring the rail line downtown.

Mr. Abrams argued that Tri-Rail hasn’t been able to complete needed training for its staff to run the service because the government line depends on cooperation from Florida East Coast Railway and Brightline, separate private firms that used to work as one.

In addition, Mr. Abrams said the authority has a problem with dispatchers. In a previous authority agreement with Florida East Coast, Tri-Rail was obligated to provide two dispatchers to FEC to dispatch the trains. Now, he said, FEC is asking for more.

General Counsel Teresa Moore explained that FEC told the authority it needs seven months to hire and train enough dispatchers, which would require added payments from Tri-Rail.

“Now, they’re coming back with the position that it could be more involved than two dispatchers even though that’s what our agreement says, to the point where they’re stating the possibility of having to construct a separate dispatch desk, which of course is a more expensive proposition,” Mr. Abrams said. “We don’t necessarily accept that view at this time, but they will present their proposal on it and we will evaluate it.”

To upgrade Enhanced Automatic Train Control software to operate the trains safely, he said, FEC is expected to cooperate to complete required testing.

Brightline was to re-qualify one of its engineers on the FEC portion of the downtown link, and that person is to train Tri-Rail’s designated person, who then would train the entire crew.

On Friday, the authority was awaiting from Brightline numbers pinning down costs associated with that training.

“I can’t put a date on it,” said Mr. Abrams when asked how much time it would take for the station to open. “[If] we don’t obtain that cooperation on the most timely basis, then the schedule slips.”

A report from Miami-Dade’s Inspector General says a realistic date to begin Tri-Rail on the Downtown Miami Link is in early 2023.

Meanwhile, the authority is working on issues within its own purview such as running tests, meeting with funding partners, and continuing to meet biweekly with Brightline.

Tri-Rail service into downtown was supposed to run by March 2017 but problems in the design and construction of the station and the trains have delayed the $70 tax-funded project.

The authority is in the process of hiring a replacement for Mr. Abrams, who announced in January he would resign in January. That came one month after he disclosed construction defects at Brightline’s MiamiCentral station that prevented Tri-Rail trains from using the downtown station. The authority already had hired recruiting firm Krauthamer & Associates to find an executive director to replace him for not disclosing the defects as soon as he was made aware of them.

Tri-Rail serves Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties through 18 stations but has never reached downtown. The line extends to the Hialeah and Miami International Airport stations connecting with Metrorail.

Tri-Rail saw a 70% recovery of pre-pandemic passenger levels in February, hitting 6,988 riders on Saturday, Feb. 19. Saturday ridership has been averaging 5,500.