Editor’s Note: When Henry Flagler extended his railroad from the small town of Miami in South Florida to Key West, creating the Overseas Railroad for the Florida East Coast Railway, passenger trains arriving in the Key West station in 1912 when the line was complete – 107 years ago – arrived on a dock, with waiting passenger steam ships ready for boarding and then sailing to nearby Cuba.
If the Virgin Trains USA extension of service to PortMiami over the recently upgraded Florida East Coast Railway tracks from MiamiCentral Station into PortMiami becomes reality, what’s old is new will become a reality, with a direct passenger train to ship dock connection. – CorridorRail.com Editor
By Jesse Scheckner, Miami Today; February 19, 2019
Miami-Dade County may soon look at linking Virgin Trains USA to PortMiami, a move that would connect the port to Broward and Palm Beach counties and extend a valuable lifeline to the struggling passenger rail service formerly named Brightline.
Commissioners in committee last week voted 3-0 to advance an item directing Mayor Carlos Giménez’s office to examine the extension, which would use existing rails, according to sponsor Rebeca Sosa, who asked that the item be expedited to the next full commission meeting Feb. 20.