Mark your calendar: Tri-Rail rolls out service to downtown Miami on Saturday Jan. 13

Tri-Rail trains will begin making the long-awaited trip to downtown Miami on Saturday, Jan. 13.

“The day has finally arrived,” said Raquel Regalado, a Miami-Dade County commissioner and Tri-Rail board member. “We have worked through many challenges.”

Before the launch of the new service, Tri-Rail passengers looking to get to Miami had to exit at the Metrorail Transfer Station in Hialeah and take a Metrorail train that made several stops before it arrived at MiamiCentral. Initially, the plan was to have Tri-Rail provide for direct service to MiamiCentral but logistics and scheduling issues will prevent that from happening for a while.

Tri-Rail passengers, for the time being, must take a shuttle train at the Metrorail Transfer Station that will go non-stop to downtown Miami. The Miami Central Station is within walking distance of Kaseya Center, a major events facility that is also the home of the Miami Heat.

The Tri-Rail service was slated to begin seven years ago but issues developed that prevented the trains from safely getting into and out of the Miami depot, a mishap that played a role in the resignation last summer of then executive director Steven Abrams, a former Palm Beach County commissioner. He was replaced by David Dech, who had served as vice president of rail operations for Capital Metro in Austin, Texas, where he helped open a new downtown station.

The platform built at Brightline’s depot for Tri-Rail was too wide for the trains. Dech said after he was hired that completing the Miami link was one of his top priorities. Dech said eventually direct service will be offered but it may be more than a year away.

More: Tri-Rail, on the verge of providing Miami service, is already seeing a ridership surge

Brightline vs. Tri Rail: A cost and time comparison from West Palm to downtown Miami

Will Tri-Rail offer competition for the sleeker and faster Brightline?

Here's a comparison.

A weekday travel date of Jan. 16 was used for comparison purposes.

Brightline: Cost can vary based on time of day. A weekday train leaving at 7 a.m., $34; a premium ticket, $69. The travel time, 70 minutes. Parking purchased in advance costs $10.

Tri-Rail: One-way cost is $8.75; discounted fare is $4.25. Passengers who travel at a discount must pre-qualify to get that lower fare. Among those eligible are senior citizens older than 65 and persons disabled. Parking is free at all Tri-Rail stations except for Miami. The travel time will depend on the availability of the shuttle train to take passengers into MiamiCentral but the trip is expected to take about an hour and 40 minutes.

“We had a lot to work out,” Dech said, explaining the need for the shuttle train. “We are excited to offer this though. We believe that it will be of great value to our passengers.”

The train-to-train transfer will occur at the Metrorail Transfer Station in Hialeah, where a shuttle train will spur out of the South Florida Rail Corridor (SFRC) into the Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway for a nine-mile express trip to MiamiCentral and back.

Tri-Rail is looking to offer 26 weekday trains into Miami

While it will not be as convenient as a one-seat train, Dech said that the delay for a scheduled transfer should be minimal.

When service begins, six trains will go in and out of Miami Central with more trains being added to the schedule before the full complement of 26 weekday trains is reached. Tri-Rail’s current 18-stop route begins from the north in Mangonia Park, near West Palm Beach, and ends at Miami International Airport.

Unlike Brightline, Tri-Rail, operated by the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, (SFRTA), is publicly funded. More than $40 million was spent to help build the Miami Central Depot for Tri-Rail. It is located within the Brightline complex.

Meanwhile, Tri-Rail has been experiencing a surge in ridership with levels within 10% of its record, pre-Covid figure of 4.5 million in 2019. Weekend ridership is already equal to 2019.

Tri-Rail customer specialists will be at MiamiCentral upon the start of the new service to assist passengers. For additional information and updates, visit www.tri-rail.com, call 1-800-TRI-RAIL (874-7245) or follow Tri-Rail on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and transportation. You can reach him at[email protected]. Help support local journalism.Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Brightline alternative: Tri-Rail train service to Miami begins