$300 Million Miami-Dade Metrorail Upgrade On Way

MIAMI, FL — A brand new Metrorail train hit the tracks this week at Miami International Airport and the chairman of the Miami-Dade Commissioners told Patch this was the first of a number of planned improvements to the Miami-area's elevated rapid transit system. The $300 million in planned upgrades will continue throughout 2018. Esteban Bovo Jr. also acknowledged in the interview that the system has a long way to go, but the first big upgrade has left the station.

"I see this as a first step in what we hope to be a much broader conversation of transit," Bovo said in an interview following Thursday's unveiling of the first new addition to the Metrorail fleet since the system began operating in 1984.

The Metrorail line runs along two routes — the orange and green lines — that make up a 25-mile elevated rapid transit system with service to Miami International Airport. Trains run from Kendall through South Miami, Coral Gables and downtown Miami; to the Civic Center and Jackson Memorial Hospital area; to Brownsville, Liberty City, Hialeah, and Medley in northwest Miami-Dade. The line has connections to Broward and Palm Beach counties at the Tri-Rail/Metrorail transfer station. The system currently now has 136 train cars.

Twenty-three Metrorail stations are spaced about one mile apart, providing access for bus riders, pedestrians, and passengers who are dropped off and picked up.

"This starts the transformation and I think over the next couple of months we're going to see progressive steps that's just going to make the transit experience better, not to mention hopefully a real conversation about expanding our system to take it to other parts of the county," Bovo told Patch.

The new train was built by Hitachi Rail Italy at a plant in Medley, Florida, which is not far Miami International in Miami-Dade County. Officials marked the occasion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Miami International Airport's Metrorail station platform.

“Our staff has been diligently working with Hitachi Rail Italy to ensure the delivery of our first train by the end of this month," according to Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez. "We are proud to introduce our new modern, high-tech vehicles, which will improve our riders’ experience and Metrorail service reliability."

Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, officials took an inaugural ride on the new blue and silver Metrorail train from Miami International to the Government Center station.

The first four-car train of 136 cars that will make up the new Metrorail fleet was funded by surtax funds from People’s Transportation Plan.

"Our riders have been complaining for a long time that their transit experience has been awful," Bovo conceded. "I use the system, and I concur. It's been a bad experience between squeaky wheels, no air-conditioning, just a poor quality of ride. This starts the transformation."

Bovo said that new cars will be added throughout next year.

"The idea is that throughout 2018 month by month there will be new cars being developed into the system. Old cars will be going off the system. The mayor talked about by 2019 the entire transformation of the system will have taken place," Bovo added. "We'll try to work to see if we can expedite that a little bit. But it's significant because your ridership now changes."

The Miami International station is located at 3800 NW 25 St. in Miami.

Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Esteban L. Bovo, Jr. Photo by Paul Scicchitano