The Orlando International Airport Intermodal Terminal or South Airport Intermodal Terminal is an

intermodal transit Intermodal passenger transport, also called mixed-mode commuting, involves using two or more modes of transportation in a journey. Mixed-mode commuting is often used to combine the strengths (and offset the weaknesses) of various transportati ...

complex under construction at the

Orlando International Airport Orlando International Airport is a major public airport located 6 miles (10 km) southeast of Downtown Orlando, Florida. In 2021, it handled 19,618,838 passengers, making it the busiest airport in the state and seventh busiest airport i ...

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

. The new station, which is partially being funded by the

Florida Department of Transportation The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the powers of t ...

, will serve as the Orlando station for the

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 ...

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, which will connect Orlando International Airport to downtown

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

via the

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 pr ...

. The terminal building and the adjacent parking garage opened on November 17, 2017, while work on the train terminal continues. The facility is connected to the main airport terminal roughly to the north via an

automated people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...

(APM) system.

History

The facility mostly reuses plans from the proposed

Florida High Speed Rail The Florida High-Speed Corridor is a canceled high-speed rail project in the U.S. state of Florida. Initial service would have run between the cities of Tampa and Orlando, with plans to then extend service to South Florida, terminating in Miami. ...

system. In that plan, the Orlando International Airport station was to be the northern terminus of the initial Tampa-to-Orlando route along

Interstate 4 Interstate 4 (I-4) is an Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Florida, maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Spanning along a generally southwest–northeast axis, I-4 is entirely concurrent wi ...

. The plan was effectively cancelled when Florida governor

Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers, born December 1, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 45th governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019. Scott ...

announced he would reject federal funding for the project. The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority had already invested considerably to accommodate the station and high-speed rail line, such as the extra length of the south

taxiway bridge Aircraft bridges, including taxiway bridges and runway bridges, bring aircraft traffic over motorways, railways, and waterways. Construction Aircraft bridges must be designed to support the heaviest aircraft that may cross them, or that will cro ...

s over the southern airport access road, which will now be used by Brightline. As part of the $684 million intermodal complex, the airport authority has also built a 2,400 space parking garage.

Future use

The

SunRail SunRail is a commuter rail system in the Greater Orlando, Florida, area. Services began on May 1, 2014. The system comprises 16 stations along a former CSX Transportation line connecting Volusia County and Osceola County through Downtown Orland ...

commuter rail line is also considering a extension to the airport terminal. The extension would travel from the existing SunRail line along an

Orlando Utilities Commission The Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC: "The ''Reliable'' One") is a municipally-owned public utility providing water and electric service to the citizens of Orlando, Florida and portions of adjacent unincorporated areas of Orange County, Florid ...

rail spur, which runs along the southern boundary of the airport's property. The route is used exclusively by coal trains to serve the Curtis H. Stanton Energy Center in eastern Orange County. From there, two options are currently under consideration; one plan would have SunRail trains branch north off of the existing OUC line and onto a new spur that would terminate at the planned South Airport Intermodal Terminal. The second option being explored would be to build a transfer station along the OUC line where passengers would transfer from SunRail trains onto light rail trains that would run along a dedicated 2-mile line between the transfer and airport stations. In addition to Brightline and SunRail, the station might also serve one of two proposed rail connections to

International Drive International Drive, commonly known as I-Drive, is a major thoroughfare in Orlando, Florida, United States, and is the city's main tourist strip. I-Drive is located several miles southwest of proper Downtown Orlando in the southernmost limits ...

. There were plans for an elevated maglev train system, but those were scrapped in 2015. The current plan is for a light rail line that would most likely connect the airport and with the

Orange County Convention Center The Orange County Convention Center is a convention center located in Orlando, Florida. Opened in 1983 as the Orange County Convention and Civic Center, it is the primary public convention center for the Central Florida region and the second-lar ...

Florida Mall The Florida Mall is a super regional enclosed shopping mall located south of Orlando in unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States, on the southeast corner of Orange Blossom Trail and Sand Lake Road; it opened in 1986. The facility w ...

, and the Sand Lake Road SunRail station before reaching International Drive. Orlando Intermodal Terminal (32131228171)

References

External links

Orlando – Brightline
{{Metro Orlando 2017 establishments in Florida Airport railway stations in the United States Brightline stations Buildings and structures in Orlando, Florida Bus stations in Florida

Intermodal Terminal Intermodal passenger transport, also called mixed-mode commuting, involves using two or more modes of transportation in a journey. Mixed-mode commuting is often used to combine the strengths (and offset the weaknesses) of various transportati ...

Passenger rail transportation in Florida Proposed public transportation in Florida Railway stations scheduled to open in 2023 SunRail Transportation buildings and structures in Orange County, Florida Transportation in Orlando, Florida Railway stations under construction in the United States Transport infrastructure completed in 2017

History

Future use

See also

References

External links