announcement
Buoyed by a new federal grant, Tri-Rail is on track to replace nearly a third of its engines and passenger cars with new equipment.
“I don’t often use the word game changer, but this is a game changer,” said David Dech, the veteran railroad executive who last year became chief executive of Tri-Rail’s parent company, the ‘South Florida Regional Transportation Authority.
The federal government announced Friday that the 72-mile long rail service that connects Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties will receive $71.7 million to buy 24 new rolling stock and locomotives to replace its older ones in as they approach the end of their useful lives. life
That money is part of the $180 million that will be invested in the new equipment, Mr. ten The balance sheet is a local match between several governments.
Don’t expect the new team right away. Mr. Dech said it will be three years before passengers can use the first new cars and up to five years before all the new equipment is in use.
That means, he told Miami Today, that Tri-Rail will start serving downtown Miami long before it receives new equipment. He has estimated that the long-awaited downtown service may finally begin in November.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration grant was one of six for new suburban and commuter rail vehicles to replace equipment more than 25 years old, said Federal Transit Administrator Nuria Fernandez.
“This program focuses primarily on medium-sized transit agencies that lack the funding to address overdue improvements,” he said in a news release. Other transit agencies funded to purchase new equipment are in Cleveland, Chicago, Salt Lake City, St. Louis and Sacramento.
“These are long-term acquisitions,” explained Mr. ten “I wish it was as easy as buying a car.”
None of the Tri-Rail equipment is on order yet, and vendors have not yet been selected, Mr. ten “We want to look at what similarities there are” with the needs of other local rail operations now in the market, because there are economies of scale in ordering similar rolling stock while keeping prices lower for all buyers.
They will be important investments, explained Mr. Ten, because a locomotive can cost between 6 and 8 million dollars. Tri-Rail already has 26 locomotives of three types, he said.
He told his organization’s board last month that Tri-Rail is upgrading all 12 Brookville locomotives, making them easier to use on the new section of the downtown Miami line. Four of these are already ready to roll.
Twelve more Tri-Rail locomotives, the EMD F40PH model built by General Motors’ Electro-Motive division between 1975 and 1992, were rebuilt two years ago, Mr. ten
While Tri-Rail hasn’t chosen where to order or what to buy, he said his team is looking at what’s available in the market now: a very limited market of rail manufacturers.
The goal of the purchases, he said, will be to improve the experiences of Tri-Rail riders, now 12,500 daily and growing.
Aside from safety, he said, one concern is convenience. Another is simply “not breaking down,” because people depend on trains to get where they want to go on time, whether it’s to school or to catch a plane.
“Reliability is the key,” he said.
When it arrives, the new equipment will look nothing like the current Tri-Rail, regardless of the cars and locomotives chosen. New exterior designs for all cars and locomotives replacing those in use since 2001 were announced in mid-April and shown to Miami Today.
“The design was chosen to overlay advertising opportunities that can help generate additional revenue for the agency,” Miami-Dade board member and commissioner Raquel Regalado said at the time.
Mr. Dech said the new multi-colored design will be wrapped around the locomotives’ new passenger cars later on, so they “will have the new livery.”
“These grants will help provide riders with faster, safer and more reliable service on America’s rails,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in the grant announcement.
Those who participate in obtaining this grant, said Mr. Ten include Tri-Rail’s internal planning group, its state and federal consultants, the Florida Department of Transportation, as well as transportation organizations in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
“It’s nice to be here,” he said, “and to have people working in one direction.”
