A while ago I posted a message concerning Amtrak's plans to send trains down the FEC. Although I think this is a great idea, I disagree with the plans to divert the trains off of the FEC and send them to Amtrak's existing station which is really inaccessible and far from downtown Miami.
Now I hear that the Port of Miami has received the funding to re-establish freight and passenger service directly to the port/cruise ship terminals.
There were over 4 million passengers served at the cruise terminals last year. I would think that Amtrak could get some of this business. Think of how convenient it would be to take a train from a major northeast city directly to your cruise ship in Miami!
It's important to note that the Port of Miami is located downtown, near Miami Beach, served by many support services (e.g., hotel and car rental shuttles) and much more convenient than Amtrak's existing station. A new combined (Amtrak/Tri-Rail) intermodal station at the Port of Miami would be the perfect terminus for any new Amtrak coastal service.
And just where would you put this station? There isn't a lot of land available anywhere near American Airlines Arena which is near both the port and downtown Miami.
Can always build an underground station if necessary, and possibly one of the existing cruise ship terminals can double as an Amtrak waiting and ticketing area.
As I mentioned, the plan is to bring passenger service (Tri-Rail) to the port, so some kind of station is going to be built. Amtrak needs additional space of course due to the needs of long distance passengers (like a luggage room), but some of Amtrak's full service stations aren't all that big.
daveklepper Can always build an underground station if necessary, and possibly one of the existing cruise ship terminals can double as an Amtrak waiting and ticketing area.
Underground in the Miami area is called under water. Ever wonder why most structures in Florida don't have underground basements?
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
This proposal has merit however many obstacles will need to be overcome.
1. The easiest item is to route trains as the present Silver trains down thru ORL (could pick up Disney visitors on the way south) then on old SAL to MIA. Since the route from Hialeah Market to the vicinity of the old SAL station is still in place as a industrial spur(?); trains could go there and then may proceed over the 1500 ft abandoned SAL ROW to a connection to the Port of Miami trackage. This same routing in Miami may be useable if a Amtrak train operates on the FEC then gets on the SAL tracks near Palm Beach.
2. Equipment is another matter not so easily solved. Cruise ships are clustered around the weekends. If so then the necessary coaches would not be needed for travelers in the middle of a week? An 16 coach car train with 2 additional diners would provide about 900 seats? The present political climate does not appear to call for additional cars so only if the cruise lines decided to build Viewliner coaches to Amtrak specs would the cars be available.
3. Parking for the trains in Miami at the present station location would need to be expanded although the new service facility being built will be 900 ft long. (approx 11 cars long). Additional storage tracks would be needed
4,. Geting CSX to allow additional trains as the present trains already average 10 cars might be a problem. 8 cars would provide approximately 480 seats? + how to feed them?
Miami Intermodal Center (MIC) is a partially completed transportation hub under construction by the Florida Department of Transportation in Miami, Florida, in the United States. It will offer centralized transfer between Metrorail, Amtrak, Tri-Rail, buses, taxicabs, and rental cars. It also would be a station on the proposed Orlando to Miami extension of the Florida High Speed Rail system.
The first construction project of the center was the Rental Car Center (RCC), a 3,400,000-square-foot (316,000 m2) "rental car shopping mall" that provides customers arriving through Miami International Airport (MIA) convenient access to participating rental car companies. The Miami Central Station, a rail hub, will follow. The MIA Mover APM between the MIC and MIA will also follow the completion of the RCC. The completed center will cost $1.7 billion and is expected to serve approximately 150,000 commuters and travelers each day.
The United States Department of Transportation designated MIC as a "Project of National Significance," earning it special loan rates. The first of these loans was made in 2000 for $269 million. Another loan of $270 million was approved in 2007.
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