MiamiCentral

MiamiCentral is a mixed-use railroad station development in the Government Center district of Downtown Miami, Florida, currently serving inter-city rail service Brightline. It includes connections to such transit as Metrorail, Metromover, and Metrobus. There are also plans for the station to serve Tri-Rail commuter rail trains in 2023. The 9-acre complex also includes of residential, office, commercial, and retail development. The station was built by All Aboard Florida, a subsidiary of Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) overseeing Brightline. MiamiCentral was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in association with Zyscovich Architects.

History

Original FEC station: 1896–1963

MiamiCentral was originally a railroad station opened April 15, 1896 as the southern terminus of Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway (FEC). The station was the southern end of the FEC line until 1905, when construction began to Key West via the Overseas Railroad. The FEC built a wooden passenger station building in 1912 at site of what would become the Dade County Courthouse. Construction on the courthouse was started in 1925 and finished 1928. FEC regularly serviced the site until January 23, 1963, when union workers for both companies went on strike.

At the insistence of the City of Miami, which had long fought to get rid of the tracks in the downtown section just north of the county courthouse, the downtown passenger terminal was demolished by November 1963. Although a new station was planned at the Buena Vista yard near North Miami Avenue and 36th Street (US 27), it was never built. The site of the old station was left as parking lots until construction of MiamiCentral began in 2014.

When FEC ended their passenger service, this left Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (service absorbed by Amtrak in 1971) as the sole intercity rail in Miami. They operated out of the decaying Allapattah terminal at Northwest 22nd Street and Seventh Avenue (US 441) until in 1978 Amtrak moved to its current location near Hialeah.

New station

In March 2012, All Aboard Florida, a former subsidiary of Florida East Coast Industries that also at the time owned the Florida East Coast Railway, announced plans to connect Miami and Orlando with Higher-speed passenger rail service. In May 2014, All Aboard Florida unveiled their plans for the site, with construction anticipated to begin in late 2014. The company planned to build two tracks on either side of an island platform above street level and of transit-oriented development, with retail shops at street level and hotel rooms, housing and office space occupying towers above the station.

In August 2014, preparatory work began with the removal of parking lots that had previously been located on the site. Construction of the facility began in mid 2015, when subterranean support pilings began to be built, and by the end of the year foundation and frame construction was underway. By October 2016, construction of the rail facility was about 70% complete, while work on the lower structure of the office and residential buildings had begun. When Brightline began revenue operations in January 2018 between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, MiamiCentral was still incomplete. Service to Miami was planned to begin at the end of April 2018. Brightline service to MiamiCentral commenced on May 19, 2018.

In its final design, MiamiCentral includes a dining and grocery marketplace dubbed Central Fare, of retail space, one residential building with 800 apartments, and two office buildings. It will have five tracks, with three serving Brightline trains and two serving Tri-Rail trains. The office buildings are 3 MiamiCentral (12 stories, ) and 2 MiamiCentral () MiamiCentral is within walking distance of Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. station, which is served by Metromover, as well as the Historic Overtown/Lyric Theatre station, which is served by Metrorail. The Government Center station is directly connected to MiamiCentral via a pedestrian bridge over NW 3rd Street.

The Tri-Rail commuter service is investing $70 million at the station in the "Tri-Rail Downtown Miami Link" project, which will allow Tri-Rail to operate into the station as a second terminal. Service will begin in 2023.

Station layout

Tracks 4 and 5, along with Platforms D and E, are expected to open in conjunction with Tri-Rail's Downtown Miami Link service.

Gallery

File:GovernmentCtr1930s.jpg, View toward the southeast of the city center, with passenger trains and the Dade County Courthouse foreground,
File:Virgin MiamiCentral Station Downtown Miami (40665884533).jpg, Former Virgin MiamiCentral entrance
File:All Aboard Florida "Brightline" station construction - MiamiCentral.jpg, November 2015
File:2016-07-06-Phillp Pessar-MiamiCentral.jpg, July 2016
File:Brightline Miami station construction April 2017.jpg, April 2017
File:Brightline MiamiCentral station construction April 2018 from Gov Center metrorail.jpg, April 2018

See also

*Transportation in South Florida

References

External links

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Brightline Official siteTri-Rail Downtown Miami Link site

{{South Florida rail metro system

Brightline stations
Residential condominiums in Miami
Office buildings in Miami
Hotels in Miami
Passenger rail transportation in Florida
Florida East Coast Railway
Higher-speed rail
Railway stations in the United States opened in 2018
Transportation buildings and structures in Miami
2018 establishments in Florida
Proposed Tri-Rail stations