Passenger Trains > [FL] The Miami Amtrak FDOT fiasco, parte deux

Lots of electrons have been spilled about the uproar over the Tri-Rail + Amtrak (maybe?) station at Miami airport. I don't plan to spill any more, but I took some pictures today.

The short story is FDOT designed a station for Tri--Rail and Amtrak at Miami Airport. The FDOT version is Amtrak didn't offer any changes to its designs which it sent to Amtrak, Amtrak's version is it didn't sign off on the proposal, which it never sought and may not want. There's lot of discussion here, and in the Miami Herald.

Anyway, when Amtrak said the constructed platforms were too short, FDOT built a bypass for highway traffic which might be affected by a long train. Easy enough, build a new crossing two blocks north, and put up a "BYPASS" sign. Done, and the bypass was observed in use.

Picture 1 - 25th street is immediately at the end of the canopy, that's the road that would be blocked by a long Amtrak train. The bypass is viewed farther on, at the end of the sand track to the right. Probably another 800 - 1,000 feet past 25th street.

Mega-Bus and Greyhound are to the left under the Miami Metro-Rail system tracks. Everything is nicely under cover.

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One of the problems is the lack of turning facilities next to the new station. The ROW of a former wye appears to be mostly intact, but I'm not sure how much of the southern leg can be rebuilt.

Amtrak's maintenance facilities are over 4 miles to the north. This would mean each train having to make a 4+ mile reverse move at restricted speed, each direction, multiple times every day. Denver's one-mile reverse move is painful as it is; this would be worse. Unless Florida wants to fund all these extra movements, including new crew and spare switch locomotives, I can't blame Amtrak for not wanting to operate there.

All is not lost. People at Miami Airport Station have the option of taking Tri-Rail to West Palm Beach (or any other intermediate Amtrak-served Tri-Rail station) and boarding Amtrak there. As for Miami Hileah station, the area could certainly use some improvement as the neighborhood lacks sidewalks, accessibility, and safe lighted walkways to connect with Tri-Rail and MetroRail.

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Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/17 09:43 by darkcloud.

A deluxe motor coach from the current Amtrak terminal in Hialeah to the pleasant and convenient transportation center could also resolve the issue, if people wanted to stay aboard the Amtrak train.

Why would Amtrak want to move away from a
location within the reverse loop AT Hialeah Yards? It's
still going to be an expense to move the trains between
the airport station and Hialeah, regardless if it's done
as a reverse movement, or via a switch engine dragging the train.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/17 09:44 by darkcloud.

Just to note I had a quick look at the new BrightLine / Tri-Rail Miami Central station yesterday. Lots of construction activity, looked like hundreds of people working. Downtown, surrounded by huge office buildings, the Metro Rail, and the people mover.

Tri-Rail will access the new central station from an improved connection in the Hialeah area via a freight connection, I'm not aware Amtrak has expressed any interest in being part of this project. (Tri-Rail trains will have a choice of destinations, as I understand the big picture. Either Miami airport or Central Station.)

darkcloud Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CZ10 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Why would Amtrak want to move away from a
> > location within the reverse loop AT Hialeah
> Yards?
> >
>
> Because the current station is a crappy one in a
> crappy neighborhood (emphasis HOOD), with very
> little connectivity, that is far more inconvenient
> to get to for most passengers. [snip]
>
> Is Amtrak's primary mission to serve its customers
> or its own convenience?

And, just maybe, Amtrak will have to set aside its "we've always done it this way" mentality. Their reluctance to participate in the process speaks volumes about how poorly the company was led in the Boardman era. Basically FDOT was giving them a free station--all they had to do was devote some staff time. I read elsewhere the planning and engineering people who would have done the work had their positions eliminated. Perhaps one of Amtrak's greatest failings is that it does everything in its power to NOT be a forward-thinking organization.

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA

If Amtrak (or some other entity) decides at some point that a cross-Florida day train from Miami to Orlando to Tampa would be desirable, starting and ending that train at Miami Central could make sense.

Unfortunately for Amtrak, etc, if there's a Market, BrightLine may find it first.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If Amtrak (or some other entity) decides at some
> point that a cross-Florida day train from Miami to
> Orlando to Tampa would be desirable, starting and
> ending that train at Miami Central could make
> sense.
>
> Unfortunately for Amtrak, etc, if there's a
> Market, BrightLine may find it first.

Assuming Brightline extends to Tampa, Amtrak should exit the Tampa-Miami market. Amtrak then could split all NE - Florida trains into East Coast and West Coast sections and keep the size of the East Coast sections down to where they fit into the Miami Airport Station.

darkcloud Wrote:
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> Oh come on, the conductor wouldn't be hanging on
> the side of a car for a 4-mile shove

> line is signaled, 2-main, and straight, so the
> only reason for the shove to be restricted speed

> Without an unnecessary restricted speed on the
> mainline shove that move ought to take 10 to 20
> minutes.

> trains would have to be 5 hours late to not have
> time to make the shove back.


Good points. I wasn't sure how much restricted speed would play out due to the station being stub-ended, like Denver. As for mileage, I remember the Portland section of the Empire Builder making trips to the loop track in NW Portland, and that was over 4 miles. Same for the Coast Starlight and Empire Builder trains in Seattle, it's over 4 miles from King St. to the wye and back. With that noted, there appears to be no viable reason to avoid the new station.

Trains 91 and 92; the Silver Star, make a reverse move of approximately 2 miles with passengers aboard in order to reach Tampa station. I don't know what speed they move, but I'm certain it's faster than Restricted Speed. I wonder what will happen when Positive Train Control is enacted, since the engine will be on the opposite end, and the coding shows the track as occupied (by the train it's shoving).

Amtrak's Great American Stations page describes how SAL/SCL/Amtrak trains used to reverse 6 miles between the old SAL station at 2207 NW 7th Ave in Miami and Hialeah Yard, which is where the Amtrak station has been since 1978. SAL had at least 4 pairs of Miami trains (Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Palmland, Sunland) and picked up ACL's East Coast Champion, City of Miami/ South Wind and seasonal Florida Special after the FEC strike, all of which made the 6-mile reverse moves between the station and Hialeah Yard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/17 15:01 by knotch8.

F40PHR231 Wrote:
>
> Good points. I wasn't sure how much restricted
> speed would play out due to the station being
> stub-ended, like Denver. ...

Just a little thought: Denver isn't a good comparison. That's done with passengers on the train, getting bored, anxious to arrive. The Miami move would happen before they board or after they all get off.

knotch8 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Trains 91 and 92; the Silver Star, make a reverse
> move of approximately 2 miles with passengers
> aboard in order to reach Tampa station. I don't
> know what speed they move, but I'm certain it's
> faster than Restricted Speed. I wonder what will
> happen when Positive Train Control is enacted,
> since the engine will be on the opposite end, and
> the coding shows the track as occupied (by the
> train it's shoving).
>

Shouldn't be much of an issue with PTC. Train length and tonnage are part of the consist information loaded into the onboard computer prior to departure for the braking algorithms. The computer also knows the reverser position in the controlling locomotive. PTC will show the train moving in reverse on the display in the cab. With the train length already in the system it should be able to accurately calculate distances to stop targets in the train's path.

niagara484