Miami Central Station Miami Airport
Southward view toward Coral Gables and Coconut Grove of Airport station; Amtrak and Tri-Rail tracks under construction left-background
Station statistics
Address	3797 NW 21st Street Miami, Florida 33142
Coordinates	25°47′48″N 80°15′41″W / 25.79667°N 80.26139°W / 25.79667; -80.26139Coordinates: 25°47′48″N 80°15′41″W / 25.79667°N 80.26139°W / 25.79667; -80.26139
Lines	Amtrak:   Silver Meteor   Silver Star Metrorail:   Orange Line Tri-Rail:   Tri-Rail
Connections	Miami International Airport via MIA Mover Greyhound Bus Lines Metrobus: 37, 42, 57, J (110), 133, 150 and 238 Rental Car Center Taxicabs
Levels	2 (Ground floor: Amtrak, Tri-Rail, Metrobus and Greyhound Lines Upper level: Metrorail and MIA Mover)
Platforms	Platforms 1–4: Ground cross-platform interchange (Amtrak and Tri-Rail) Platforms 5 & 6: Elevated island platform (Metrorail and MIA Mover)
Tracks	8
Parking	Multi-story parking garage
Bicycle facilities	Bicycle parking on ground level
Other information
Opened	Metrorail: July 28, 2012 Tri-Rail: January 8, 2014 (Under Construction) Amtrak: January 8, 2014 (Under Construction)[1]
Accessible
Owned by	FDOT
Fare zone	Miami Central to Golden Glades (Tri-Rail)
Traffic
Passengers (2013, proj.)	150,000 (MIC; daily)[2][3]  0%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Terminus Silver Star Hollywood toward New York City Silver Meteor Metrorail Terminus Orange Line Earlington Heights toward Dadeland South SFRTA Terminus Tri-Rail Hialeah Market / Miami Airport toward Mangonia Park

Miami Central Station, also called Miami Airport Station,^[4][5] is a rapid transit, commuter rail, intercity rail, and intercity bus union station currently in partial completion in Miami, Florida, United States, in the Grapeland Heights neighborhood.

The station located on Northwest 21st Street near North Douglas Road (West 37th Avenue), just east of Le Jeune Road (West 42nd Avenue) and Miami International Airport (MIA), and south of the Miami River and the Airport Expressway (SR 112). When completed, it will serve Amtrak, Tri-Rail, Metrorail, and Metrobus, and will provide a people mover connection to the airport via the MIA Mover.

Phase I of the station, which involved the construction of the MIA Mover, Metrobus terminal, and Metrorail concourse, opened on July 28, 2012. Phase II, which entails construction of the Tri-Rail and Amtrak concourse, is scheduled for completion in early 2014.^[1] The intermodal rail station, a part of the greater Miami Intermodal Center at MIA, is expected to be among the busiest passenger stations in Florida and the Southeast upon completion.

History [edit]

Rendering of the Miami Central Station, expected to be completed in 2014

Intercity passenger rail service into Miami began in April 1896 with the arrival of the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) at the new southern terminus in downtown, just east of the current site of Government Center station. Service between Miami and New York operated in conjunction with both the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and the Seaboard Air Line Railway from Jacksonville. In January 1927, the Seaboard Air Line Railway commenced service on its newly completed extension to Miami, with the Orange Blossom Special arriving at Seaboard's terminal in Allapattah two miles north of downtown.^[6][7]

Passenger service on the FEC was halted by a strike in January 1963, and the FEC downtown station was demolished that November. Seaboard, however, continued providing passenger service to its terminal via the streamlined Silver Meteor and other trains. Amtrak took over Seaboard's passenger routes in 1971, continuing to provide service to the Seaboard terminal.

In 1977, Amtrak determined it could not maintain the decaying Allapattah terminal, which also posed logistical problems for passenger coach maintenance, and moved the Miami terminus to its current location at the Seaboard passenger coach yards near Hialeah.^[8] The new Miami Central Station is located six miles south of the current Amtrak station, on a mile-long spur that branches south off of the beginning of the Seaboard (now CSX) Homestead extension near the Miami River.

Construction of the facility began on May 18, 2011, but the ceremonial groundbreaking did not take place until September 27.^[9]

Tri-Rail [edit]

Southbound Tri-Rail service terminated at the modern-day Hialeah Market in 1987. A new station opened in April 1998 at the present site of Central Station. It was the southern terminus of the Tri-Rail system until September 12, 2011, when Tri-Rail service to the site was suspended for approximately two years to facilitate construction of the new station. Hialeah Market became the temporary southern terminus for Tri-Rail with shuttle buses taking passengers between the Hialeah Market station and Miami International Airport and two trains per day stopping further north at the Metrorail transfer station with accompanying shuttle buses.^[10]

Closing of Miami Airport Station during construction [edit]

Tri-Rail's Miami Airport Station temporarily closed on September 12, 2011 to facilitate construction of the Miami Central Station. The station is expected to be closed for a period of approximately two years, during which time it will be rebuilt and connected to the airport via an escalator and people mover.

During this two-year period, the southern terminus of rail service will be the Hialeah Market Station, where bus transportation will be provided to and from the Miami International Airport through this station. Trailers have been installed to house a ticket agent and restroom facilities. Additional lighting has been installed and approximately 60 additional parking spaces have been striped. There will be 24-hour security at the station.

Two northbound trains, P638 and P642, will originate from the Metrorail Transfer Station. Two southbound trains, P631 and P635 will terminate at the Metrorail Transfer Station. Passengers will be bused to and from the Hialeah Market Station and the Miami International Airport for these trains.

By closing the Miami Airport Station, the construction time of the MIC will be reduced by approximately 21 months and will result in taxpayers saving approximately $10 million in construction costs. The impact to passengers should be less than 10 minutes in extended travel time to the airport

Services [edit]

Amtrak [edit]

Note: Amtrak service at Miami Central Station service does not begin until January 2014 at the earliest.

• Silver Star to New York City via Orlando, Washington, DC and Philadelphia
• Silver Meteor to New York City via Orlando, Washington, DC and Philadelphia

Metrobus [edit]

Metrorail [edit]

     Metrorail Orange Line

• Greater Miami:
  • Brickell
  • Civic Center
  • Coconut Grove
  • Coral Gables
  • Dadeland
  • Downtown (via Government Center and Metromover)
  • Hialeah
  • South Miami
  • Wynwood (via Allapattah station)

Tri-Rail [edit]

Note: Tri-Rail service at Miami Central Station service does not begin until January 2014 at the earliest.

• Broward and Palm Beach counties:
  • Boca Raton
  • Fort Lauderdale
  • Hollywood
  • Pompano Beach
  • West Palm Beach

References [edit]

See also [edit]

• MIC – Airport/Miami Central Station
• MDT – Metrorail Stations
• TransitMiami

v t e Commuter rail and rapid transit stations in the Miami metropolitan area Tri-Rail (SFRTA) Boca Raton Boynton Beach Cypress Creek Deerfield Beach † Delray Beach † Fort Lauderdale † Fort Lauderdale Airport Golden Glades Hialeah Market Hollywood † Lake Worth Mangonia Park Metrorail Transfer †† Miami Central ††† (service resumes 2013) Opa-locka Pompano Beach Sheridan Street West Palm Beach † Metrorail (MDT) Airport ††† Allapattah Brickell †† Brownsville Civic Center Coconut Grove Culmer Dadeland North Dadeland South Douglas Road Earlington Heights AirportLink Government Center †† Hialeah Historic Overtown/Lyric Theatre Martin Luther King Jr. Northside Okeechobee Palmetto Santa Clara South Miami Tri-Rail Transfer †† University Vizcaya Metromover (MDT) Adrienne Arsht Center Bayfront Park Bicentennial Park (service resumes as Museum Park 2013) Brickell †† College/Bayside College North Eighth Street Eleventh Street Fifth Street Financial District First Street Freedom Tower Government Center †† Knight Center Miami Avenue Park West Riverwalk School Board Tenth Street/Promenade Third Street Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. MIA Mover (MIA) Miami Central Station††† MIA Central Terminal Key † – Amtrak Silver Service †† – Transfer between Metrorail or Metromover ††† – Amtrak Silver Service, Metrorail, and Tri-Rail services