Magazine serving the bus and rail transit & motorcoach operations since 1904
Issue link: https://metromag.epubxp.com/i/131307
Florida's Commuter Culture The $1 billion, 61.5-mile system, being built by the Florida DOT, will utilize an existing rail corridor. The 32-mile first phase will serve 12 stations and link DeBary, to Sand Lake Road, just south of Orlando. Service is expected to begin in 2014. BY JANNA STARCIC, Executive Editor l ess than a year from now, thousands of people will be boarding Florida's new SunRail commuter rail service. Te $1 billion, 61.5-mile system, being built by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), will provide commuters with an alternative to the highly congested Interstate 4, a major commuter arterial roadway, which parallels the rail line. "It takes our customers downtown right where they want to go in the morning and drops them of where they live at the end of the day," says Steve Olson, public information ofcer for FDOT's District 5. Te 32-mile frst phase of SunRail will serve 12 stations and link DeBary, in Volusia County, to Sand Lake Road, just south of Orlando. Service is expected to begin in 2014. Construction on Phase I of SunRail includes double-tracking, signal improvements, stations and an operations control center. Te rail line, built on an existing freight rail corridor that traverses Orange, Seminole, Volusia and Osceola counties, has put about 800 people to work, according to FDOT ofcials. Phase 2 will serve fve additional stations, north to DeLand and south to Poinciana. FDOT officials are careful to say that 30 < mETRO mAGAZINE JUNE 2013 SunRail is not necessarily going to reduce congestion, because there is a high demand for north-south surface roads, which will be undergoing improvements in the coming years. "Te region is continuing to grow, so there will be demand for these services," Olson says. "Our thinking is to get people to rethink using their automobiles and use the SunRail trains and other forms of mass transit. "We think SunRail will change the whole dynamic for mass transit in the region," he adds. "It will have a huge impact as far as giving people choices." CORRIDOR SELECTION "Te corridor has actually been looked at for decades within the Orlando area for use as passenger rail, because the communities have grown up around this rail line," says Tawny Olore project manager for SunRail. "This line goes through the heart of metro Orlando as well as the suburbs to the north and south." It basically parallels Interstate 4, which is subject to a lot of congestion during rush hour. Further south, the line parallels a busy state road, Orange Avenue, which brings in traffic from southern Orlando and the Kissimmee/Osseola County. Although the existing rail corridor is used by freight and Amtrak services, it will have to be improved for SunRail's passenger service. Te trains will be operating with push-pull technology, and to ensure on-time performance, most of the 61.5-mile corridor will be double tracked. "We are putting new tracks next to existing and moving existing tracks over, and replacing it," Olson says. "We are going through some of the existing infrastructure and upgrading it so it's a smooth ride." SunRail will operate on weekdays, every half hour during three-hour windows in the morning and in the afternoon, and every two hours during of-peak periods. No freight will be allowed on the corridor during those peak travel periods. Olore says SunRail will also be in compliance with the positive train control mandate for 2015. The capital cost for SunRail will also include a new state-of-the-art signal system for train operations and upgrades for the at-grade crossing warning system. In addition, upgrades to the at-grade metro-magazine.com