MiamiCentral

MiamiCentral
The entrance to MiamiCentral
General information
Location	600 NW 1st Avenue Miami, Florida United States
Coordinates	25.77753°N 80.19578°W / 25.77753; -80.19578
Owned by	Florida East Coast Industries
Platforms	1 high-level island platform 1 high-level side platform 2 low-level side platforms
Tracks	5
Connections	Government Center Historic Overtown/Lyric Theatre Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Metrobus: 2, 3, 7, 9, 11, 21, 77, 95, 100, 203, 207, 208, 400, 401, 836, 837 BCT: 109, 110
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Parking	Off-site parking garage; paid
Bicycle facilities	Racks
Accessible	Yes
Architect	Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Zyscovich Architects, TLC Engineering for Architecture
Architectural style	Modernism
History
Opened	April 15, 1896
Closed	January 23, 1963
Rebuilt	May 19, 2018
Services
Preceding station Brightline Following station Aventura toward Orlando Brightline Terminus Preceding station Tri-Rail Following station Terminus Downtown Miami Link Metrorail Transfer Terminus
Former services Preceding station Florida East Coast Railway Following station Terminus Main Line Little River toward Jacksonville
Future services Preceding station Tri-Rail Following station Terminus Red Line (proposed) Midtown/Design District toward Mangonia Park
Route map Brightline to Orlando Tri-Rail to Metrorail Transfer Track numbers: 1–3: Brightline; 4–5: Tri-Rail All platforms are accessible
Location

MiamiCentral is a train station in Miami, Florida. Located in Downtown Miami, the station provides access to Brightline inter-city rail service and Tri-Rail commuter rail service. The station is part of a 9-acre (3.6 ha) mixed-use complex, which includes 3 million square feet (280,000 m²) of residential, office, commercial, and retail development.

The station is located within walking distance of the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Metromover station and the Historic Overtown/Lyric Theatre Metrorail station. The Government Center station, providing both Metromover and Metrorail service, is directly connected to MiamiCentral via a pedestrian bridge over NW 3rd Street. The station was built by All Aboard Florida, a subsidiary of Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) overseeing Brightline, and 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 inter-city 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 9-acre (3.6 ha) site, with construction anticipated to begin in late 2014. The company planned to build two tracks on either side of an island platform 50 feet (15 m) above street level and 3 million square feet (280,000 m²) 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 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m²) dining and grocery marketplace dubbed Central Fare, 130,000 square feet (12,000 m²) 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, 96,000 sq ft (8,900 m²)) and 2 MiamiCentral (190,000 square feet (18,000 m²))

The Tri-Rail commuter service invested about $70 million at the station for the "Tri-Rail Downtown Miami Link" project, which allows Tri-Rail to operate into the station. Service began on January 13, 2024, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony held the previous day. MiamiCentral is additionally planned to be the southern terminus of the Northeast Corridor Rapid Transit Project commuter rail line.

Station layout

Tracks 1-3, as well as Platforms A-C, are for Brightline service to Orlando. Tracks 4 and 5, along with Platforms D and E, opened in conjunction with Tri-Rail's Downtown Miami Link service.

Gallery

• 
  View toward the southeast of the city center, with passenger trains and the Dade County Courthouse foreground, c. 1930s
• 
  MiamiCentral station entrance, when it was branded under Virgin Trains USA
• 
  November 2015
• 
  July 2016
• 
  April 2017
• 
  April 2018
• 
  Brightline train at the station
• 
  Tri-Rail sign outside of the station

See also

• Transportation in South Florida