MiamiCentral is a

mixed-use Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to so ...

railroad station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing ...

development in the Government Center district of

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

, currently serving

inter-city rail Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...

service

Brightline Brightline (reporting mark BLFX) is an inter-city rail route between Miami and West Palm Beach, Florida that runs on track owned by Florida East Coast Railway. Brightline is the only privately owned and operated intercity passenger railroad ...

. It includes connections to such transit as Metrorail,

Metromover Metromover is a free mass transit automated people mover train system operated by Miami-Dade Transit in Miami, Florida, United States. Metromover serves the Downtown Miami, Brickell, Park West and Arts & Entertainment District neighborhoo ...

, and Metrobus. There are also plans for the station to serve

Tri-Rail Tri-Rail is a commuter rail line linking Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in Florida, United States. The ''Tri'' prefix in the name refers to the three counties served by the railroad: Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade. Tri-Rail ...

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are co ...

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 Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) is Florida's oldest and largest commercial real estate, transportation, and infrastructure holding company. Based in Coral Gables, FECI is the direct lineal descendant of the various companies founded by pione ...

(FECI) overseeing Brightline. MiamiCentral was designed by

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer John Merrill. The firm ...

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 Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder ...

Florida East Coast Railway The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México. Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a ...

(FEC). The station was the southern end of the FEC line until 1905, when construction began to

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

via the

Overseas Railroad The Overseas Railroad (also known as Florida Overseas Railroad, the Overseas Extension, and Flagler's Folly) was an extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West, a city located beyond the end of the Florida peninsula. Work on the line ...

. The FEC built a wooden passenger station building in 1912 at site of what would become the

Dade County Courthouse The Miami-Dade County Courthouse, formerly known as the Dade County Courthouse, is a historic courthouse and skyscraper located at 73 West Flagler Street in Miami, Florida. Constructed over four years (1925–28), it was added to the United State ...

. 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 The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate li ...

(service absorbed by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

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 U.S. Route 441 (US 441) is a auxiliary route of U.S. Route 41. It extends from US 41 in Miami, Florida to US 25W in Rocky Top, Tennessee. Between its termini, US 441 travels through the states of Florida, Georgia, North ...

) until in 1978 Amtrak moved to its current location near

Hialeah Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 census, Hialeah is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in the Miami metropolitan area, whi ...

New station

In March 2012, All Aboard Florida, a former subsidiary of

that also at the time owned the

, announced plans to connect

and

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures r ...

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 In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship betw ...

, 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 Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. (known as Arena/State Plaza before 2012) is a Metromover station in Downtown Miami, Downtown, Miami, Florida. This station is located near the intersection of Northwest Fifth Street and First Avenue. It opened to service ...

, 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

's Downtown Miami Link service.

Gallery

File:GovernmentCtr1930s.jpg, View toward the southeast of the city center, with

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self p ...

s 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

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