Metro-Rail to Miami Airport

According to today's Miami Herald the new Metro-Rail line to the Miami Airport will open on July 28th. Here is a link to the article:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/23/2 ... ation.html

Hope you find it interesting although I think much of it is just more of the same.

Noel Weaver

Tuesday, July 31 2012 Miami Airport Trip

This date I took the Tri-Rail train leaving Fort Lauderdale at 9:05 AM (right on time too) to the Metro-Rail transfer station at 79th Street and transferred to Metro-Rail (nothing unusual so far) but I took the Metro-Rail train southbound as far as Earlington Heights Station where I got off to transfer to a Red Line train for Miami Airport. Connections worked very well and it was a great ride. The new line has only one station at the airport and they make good time getting there. Upon arrival at the Miami Airport Station you transfer to a Metro-Mover vehicle for the airport where is not a all difficult and a very fast trip. Wait time for Metro-Mover here was only a minute or so in each direction. One thing I really noticed was that there were guides all over the place to assist you if you were not sure of where you wanted or needed to go. The trip on Metro-Mover was maybe a mile or so to the airport terminal but it was fast and easy. After I got to the airport itself the fun began. I had not been to Miami Airport in quite some time and I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was for me to get around. They have a system of moving sidewalks all over the place so getting to various gates and areas is not difficult and the place has signs and markings all over the place. I went as far as I could and ended up in the international departure section of the facility after using probably ten different moving sidewalks. After a break it was time to return so I retraced my route to the Metro-Mover connection to Metro-Rail and had no difficulty, it was well marked again with signs but you do need to pay attention to the signs or you might be riding moving sidewalks all day. Metro-Rail was easy back to Earlington Heights Station where a transfer to a Green Line train for the Tri-Rail transfer just meant crossing the platform and a short wait of maybe 6 or 7 minutes. They have a computer screen there which tells you how long you will wait for your train whether it be an Orange Line for the airport or a Green Line for Tri-Rail and Palmetto. You can still take Tri-Rail to Hialeah Market where a free shuttle bus is provided to the airport but that involves “ugh” a bus although it might be faster. The Tri-Rail station at the airport is under construction but will not be finished until sometime next year.
I had time to kill before my 12:30 PM Tri-Rail departure so I stayed on the Metro-Rail train to Okeechobee Station which is one station short of the end of the line where I simply crossed the platform for a short wait for the next southbound train back to the Tri-Rail Station. A bonus was seeing ECH depart at about 12:10 PM or so from Hialeah with a RWB 10X and a BLUE 14X and an assortment of rock, freight, IM, auto carriers and more assorted stuff. My Metro-Rail train came along and bingo, I saw ECH again at IRIS although in both cases I was too far away for him to see me. My return to Fort Lauderdale on Tri-Rail was smooth, uneventful and on time to the minute all the way.
I enjoyed every part of this trip and highly recommend it to all who read this.
Regards,
Noel Weaver

Thanks for the report. Was going to do a similar trip this week, but had to move it next. Glad to see that the transfer at Earlington Heights isn't that difficult.

I'm arriving Fri Oct 4 Amtrak from Philly to Ft Lauderdale 6:02pm, or Hollywood 6:18pm. Let's see how easy it is for me to get to Ft Lauderdale airport to pick up my priceline cheap rental car.

And if anybody's going to give me a hard time about sneaking Ft Lauderdale airport into their Miami airport thread, well I just won't give a report after my trip.

Patrick Boylan wrote:I'm arriving Fri Oct 4 Amtrak from Philly to Ft Lauderdale 6:02pm, or Hollywood 6:18pm. Let's see how easy it is for me to get to Ft Lauderdale airport to pick up my priceline cheap rental car.

And if anybody's going to give me a hard time about sneaking Ft Lauderdale airport into their Miami airport thread, well I just won't give a report after my trip.

No problem, my friend, get off Amtrak at Fort Lauderdale Station and wait for a Tri-Rail commuter train, frequent service at that time of day, and go south one more station to the Fort Lauderdale Airport Station where you can ride a shuttle bus to the airport. It should not be a difficult trip. Let us know how you make out on this move.
Noel Weaver

yep, turned out as you described. Amtrak was late, so instead of the 6:08pm Tri-Rail I got the 6:35. The awaiting at Ft Lauderdale Airport station shuttle bus was right there, and departed within a couple of minutes of train arrival. I didn't pay attention to the shuttle bus schedule to see if it departed on time or not.

The downsides:
the driver was forgetful. On boarding I told him I was getting a rental car, please let me know where to transfer for rental shuttle. Luckily I managed to remind him just before we got to the last possible transfer spot.

the bus sure seems to take a roundabout way to get to anything in the airport. I thought we'd just go east on Griffin Rd, north on US 1, then into the airport. Instead we looped around the airport's entire west and north sides, finally going into the terminal areas from the east.

the buses are tiny, very little aisle space, not what I'd call conducive to luggage. I had to struggle my bag sideways down the narrow aisle and put my stuff in the wheelchair area in the back, which thankfully because the bus was tiny was not too far from the front.

I wonder if I might have been better off taking a city bus from the Amtrak station and changing to the city's 1 bus, which runs from the downtown terminal, and which stops at the airport's rental center. Who knows, it may be a long time before I have another chance to visit Ft Lauderdale, or Florida for that matter.

Patrick Boylan wrote:yep, turned out as you described. Amtrak was late, so instead of the 6:08pm Tri-Rail I got the 6:35. The awaiting at Ft Lauderdale Airport station shuttle bus was right there, and departed within a couple of minutes of train arrival. I didn't pay attention to the shuttle bus schedule to see if it departed on time or not.

The downsides:
the driver was forgetful. On boarding I told him I was getting a rental car, please let me know where to transfer for rental shuttle. Luckily I managed to remind him just before we got to the last possible transfer spot.

the bus sure seems to take a roundabout way to get to anything in the airport. I thought we'd just go east on Griffin Rd, north on US 1, then into the airport. Instead we looped around the airport's entire west and north sides, finally going into the terminal areas from the east.

the buses are tiny, very little aisle space, not what I'd call conducive to luggage. I had to struggle my bag sideways down the narrow aisle and put my stuff in the wheelchair area in the back, which thankfully because the bus was tiny was not too far from the front.

I wonder if I might have been better off taking a city bus from the Amtrak station and changing to the city's 1 bus, which runs from the downtown terminal, and which stops at the airport's rental center. Who knows, it may be a long time before I have another chance to visit Ft Lauderdale, or Florida for that matter.

You probably encountered bus detours as a result of the runway construction at the Fort Lauderdale Airport. Taking two different city buses would not be a good idea, a transfer would be involved as well as two separate fares and a lot longer trip both in time and distance. I think you made the move the best possible way.
Noel Weaver

Using Tri-Rail I had to make 2 transfers, train to shuttle, then shuttle to the other shuttle. $3.75

google transit says I could have used 2 city buses, starting with either route 22 81 or 112, then tranfer to the 1, so only 1 transfer, both of which I assume would have had more generous aisles, and low floor, than the train station shuttle bus, which had at least 2 steps. $1.75 each = $3.50, so bus would have been less money than train.

It looks like the 81 doesn't come into the station, so I would have had to lug my bags over to Broward Blvd., so that wouldn't have been my first choice.

the other 2 routes do come into the Amtrak station. And remember I was headed for rental car, and the 1 bus's sole airport stop is the rental center.

But good railfan that I am, and armed with you mentioning that the shuttle's scenic route may have been due to construction, I will remain happy that I used rail as much as I could.

Here is a trip report from one who simply wanted to "get there". The joyride was simply "ancillary":

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 7&t=140143