20 Years, 50 Million Riders For Tri-Rail
Readers: While big northern cities have had mass transit for decades, it was a brand new world when the first Tri-Rail train rolled out on Jan. 9, 1989, 20 years ago this month.
Tri-Rail started as a temporary fix. The state authorized $75 million to set up an alternative to Interstate 95 during a five-year construction project.
From the beginning, Tri-Rail had one big drawback.
It rode on the CSX Transportation tracks — the old Seaboard Coast Line railroad — that parallel the interstate, and took people to stations that aren’t close to where folks needed to be.
A more practical route would have been along the Florida East Coast Railway tracks, which follow U.S. 1 and would have brought people to within walking distance of the many government buildings and businesses lining that road.
But the FEC wouldn’t make its track available.
Long-range plans for 2025 and 2030 envision moving to, or adding, the FEC track.
In 1998, the original 67 miles of track were extended in the north from West Palm Beach’s Tamarind Avenue station to Mangonia Park and south from Hialeah to Miami International Airport.
At first, many trains were nearly empty. Riders said transferring to vans or public buses, or walking often ate up whatever time savings Tri-Rail offered.
And the limited spread of Tri-Rail and this region’s car-oriented lifestyle made driving still too convenient.
That appears to be changing, due in no small part to last summer’s skyrocketing gas prices.
On Oct. 29, ridership surpassed 50 million.
(Special thanks to Post alum Chuck McGinness.)
Tri-Rail: (800) TRIRAIL (874-7245). Web page: www.tri-rail.com
Tags: railroads
