Bells ring in the distance. Then a low rumble approaches. The roar grows louder as the diesel engine slows and inches closer. Finally, a hiss and groan as the train comes to a stop.
It's a Tri-Rail train arriving at the Miami Intermodal Center — the public transportation node known as the MIC — near Miami International Airport.
It is not an Amtrak train. And it won't be an Amtrak train, despite years of planning and $1.7 billion spent by the Florida Department of Transportation.
The nation's passenger rail service will not be one of the transit options at the center, which features rental car operators, Metrorail, buses and Tri-Rail. The MIA Mover connects the center to the airport, whisking passengers between the MIC and the center of MIA every few minutes.
In November, Amtrak informed the state Department of Transportation it evaluated what the state agency had built for it and decided it was "not feasible" to send its long-distance trains to the center. This ended more than a decade of expectations, designing and building facilities for Amtrak.
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But why Amtrak was derailing years of planning wasn't clear. The service cited an evaluation, servicing requirements, facility modifications and "additional costs associated with operations" in its rejection letter to the state.
WLRN filed a Freedom of Information Act request for Amtrak's evaluation. The train service responded with a snapshot of financial estimates if Amtrak trains were brought to the MIC.
According to the spreadsheet shared with WLRN, Amtrak estimated fewer than 20,000 passenger would ride its trains to the MIC. Those passengers would generate $2 million in revenue. Yet, Amtrak predicted running its long-distance trains to the MIC would cost an additional $5 million. The service, which adds about 4 miles from Amtrak's existing Hialeah station, would lose $3 million a year, based on Amtrak's calculations.
Although the estimates were completed last year, the relationship on the billion-dollar-plus project has been ongoing for at least 15 years between FDOT and Amtrak. Several sections of a 1997 agreement and subsequent 2013 amendment were redacted. Amtrak claimed much of that information was trade secrets.
A building at track-level is empty. A sign in the window reads, "Amtrak is currently not located at this station." The train service and FDOT, which owns the building, had been negotiating a lease. The agency sent Amtrak a letter in July noting a long-running agreement between them was "outdated." FDOT wrote new terms were "require further consideration borne by the state, in addition to future costs of Amtrak operating at the MIC." It's not known what financial terms FDOT may have been seeking.
WLRN has asked FDOT for further details, but the agency responded that it has to review its documentation for sensitive material before making it public. The review "process contains necessary reviews by individuals within the Department to ensure accuracy and compliance with potentially applicable statutory exemptions," FDOT wrote in an email on Feb. 3.
'Kind of shocking'
Most of the almost $2 billion it cost to build the MIC came from the state. Some was covered by federal loans. The rental car center was the first to open in 2010. The MIA Mover started running between the center and the airport about one year later. It was paid for with county money. The Airport Station was first scheduled to be finished in 2013. While the Metrorail station opened in 2012. And Tri-Rail trains began in 2015. Amtrak never started service.
"Amtrak has made a business decision and is not coming to the MIC," announced Florida Department of Transportation District Four Rail Administrator Ana Quero on Dec. 18 to the Citizens' Independent Transportation Trust (CITT). This was the first public acknowledgement of Amtrak's decision.
CITT Chairman Robert Wolfarth didn't hide his shock and disappointment. "We had been getting updates and every update had been talking about negotiating the final verbiage and a lease because it was built out for Amtrak," he said. "It’s really kind of shocking when I got the one page (that said) 'Forget about it after all this time.'"
While few details were shared at the time, Amtrak's financial estimates shared with WLRN show it will spend almost $22 million on making its existing Hialeah station compliant with the American with Disabilities Act.
Weeks after learning of the decision, Wolfarth was still frustrated.
"It only makes sense that people coming in from the airport to have that choice to use Amtrak and to not have to take separate transportation to get to the Hialeah station where the terminus is now," he said standing near barricades closing off what was to be Amtrak's platform. Parallel tracks are used by Tri-Rail with passengers boarding and exiting trains.
The platform is finished. "Miami Airport Station" signs dot the station, featuring logos for both Tri-Rail and Amtrak. "This side closed," announce barricades blocking off the area — but it is accessible via an escalator and elevator.
The November decision wasn't the first problem with Amtrak coming to the transportation center. The state transportation agency spent an additional $5.6 million to sort out streets and signals around the tracks because the station platform was too short to accommodate Amtrak’s long distance trains. There was some back and forth between Amtrak and the state Department of Transportation about who screwed up. That was 12 years ago.
While deciding against sending its long-distance trains to the center, Amtrak did not take all of its service off the tracks at the MIC for good. It noted its interest in a "state-sponsored Amtrak intercity corridor service." However, support for that kind of train service – between Miami and Tampa, for example – is spotty as Brightline hopes to expand its route.
The transportation trust is hoping the new Trump Administration steps in to get Amtrak back on track to bring its trains to the center.
CITT has had discussions with at least one member of South Florida's Congressional delegation regarding efforts to have Amtrak reconsider its decision. It sent a letter to new Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy describing Amtrak at the MIC as "a true 'win-win-win'" for the train service, residents and visitors. The agency approved a resolution in late January urging Amtrak to rethink ending its "long-planned extension" to the center.
" I believe that it may be their priorities layouts where out in the country," Wolfarth said. "We know that taxpayer funds for Amtrak are very difficult to come by. This is not a new project though. This has been on the books for a very long time."
