By David W. Dech, Executive Director – Tri-Rail

A full year has passed since I joined the SFRTA team as executive director and I am proud to say that we have accomplished a tremendous amount of work during this time. Remaining mindful that services have not always met your expectations, we continue to push to work on solutions that address your immediate concerns, as well as position ourselves to be prepared for future advancements.

One of my first focus points last year was to improve the overall cleanliness and comfort of our stations and trains, and just this past year we have removed over 800 tons of trash, cleared 60,000 feet of vegetation, removed graffiti from more than 20 locations, replaced over 700 passenger car windows and 16 passenger car air conditioning units, among some of the work that has been accomplished. Seven of our original coach cars that have been in service since 1989 are going through a refresh program where the floors and seats are being replaced and restrooms rehabilitated. Four of these are already back in service with the remaining three expected to be completed before the end of the year. The work to keep our stations and trains looking their best is a continual daily effort.

The reliability of our train service is a major factor that ensures our passengers can continue to count on us to get them to their destinations in their desired time. Having a sizeable amount of equipment in service for over 30 years means that even regular maintenance will only carry them for so much longer. We have had the first two of twelve locomotives overhauled with new engines, currently going through final inspections to be brought back to service, which will help us curb our mechanical challenges in the short term. Thankfully, more help is on the way as the Federal Transit Administration has awarded the SFRTA with a $71.7 million grant, accumulating us over $200 million investment in our rolling stock. The funds will help us replace about 32-percent of our fleet. These will take a few years to be built and purchased, so we are also looking for opportunities to lease equipment where available.

An equally essential yet often-overlooked aspect of our work is the maintenance of our railroad tracks. SFRTA is responsible for the South Florida Rail Corridor, where not only Tri-Rail, but Amtrak and CSX freight rail operate daily. This past year over 14,000 rail tiles were installed, over 2-miles of track were replaced and the entire corridor went through a rail grinding process that improves the usage and increases the life of the tracks. Follow Tri-Rail on social media to view pictures and video of some of the interesting maintenance work done along the corridor.

The work continues as railroad crossing improvements spanning all three counties are being programmed to be completed in the next 12 months. The first steps in the process of wrapping our new train design has started and we are on target to have a fresh set completed by the end of the year. We remain working with FEC and Brightline in preparation to start service in MiamiCentral, and hope to have some news to share on those plans soon.

We thank you for your patronage and want to assure you that we aspire to provide exceptional services on this railroad and have established a vision to meet this objective. This past year was just the beginning, and though we have not arrived yet, we remain steadfast in our determination to get there.

It’s Rail Safety Week, so please remind your friends and family to be safe around railroad tracks this week and every week. Start by taking the Rail Safety Pledge.

Thanks for riding with us!

David W. Dech
Executive Director