Tri-Rail working to bring one-seat service downtown

Efforts to create a one-seat Tri-Rail express train between West Palm Beach and downtown Miami continue, says Victor Garcia, South Florida Regional Transportation Authority public affairs director.

Director David Dech has been reviewing potential Tri-Rail accommodations “with a one-seat express train ride between West Palm Beach and Miami Central,” Mr. Garcia told Miami Today this week. The route would have limited stops in the morning. Another express train would travel back to West Palm Beach in the evening.

The new routes are still being reviewed, Mr. Garcia said, and would require approval by the Tri-Rail board since more funding would be required.

The one-seat ride has been on the list of Miami-Dade officials’ desires for a long time. Almost a decade ago, in May 2015, Miami Today reported, directors of Miami’s Downtown Development Authority voted to spend $1.3 million over three years to support an extension of Tri-Rail that would bring commuters directly into the city core.

“It’s a huge commitment … in comparison to our budget,” said Alyce Robertson, then executive director of the downtown group, “but we have a critical need to get people into downtown.”

From as far north as Palm Beach, “it will be a one-seat ride into downtown,” said Jack Stephens, then executive director of the regional authority.

In 2022 the transportation authority announced plans to extend Tri-Rail to provide direct service from its northernmost station at Mangonia Park, in Palm Beach County, to Miami Central Station. The 9.05-mile extension would provide a one-seat ride passenger service. A “one-seat ride” means passengers don’t have to change trains to make the journey. The new Tri-Rail service now reaches downtown, but only with a change of trains in Hialeah.