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Location 400 NW 1st Avenue Miami, Florida 33030 United States Owned by Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) Line(s) All Aboard Florida:
Brightline (2017)
Tri-Rail:
Downtown Miami Link (2017) Platforms 3 high-level side platforms (FEC, est. 2017)
2 low-level side platforms (Tri-Rail, est. 2017) Tracks 5 Total
3 (FEC - est. 2017)
2 (Tri-Rail - est. 2017) Structure type Train station, condo, retail, office, hotel | ||
MiamiCentral is a mixed-use railroad station development under construction in the Government Center district of Downtown, Miami, Florida. When complete, the station is planned to serve Brightline higher-speed rail, Tri-Rail commuter rail, and connect to the adjacent Government Center station serving Metrorail, Metromover, and bus lines. The 9-acre complex will also include 3 million square feet of residential, office, commercial, and retail development. The station is being built by All Aboard Florida, a subsidiary of Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) overseeing Brightline. MiamiCentral is designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in association with Zyscovich Architects.
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Original FEC station: 1896–1963
MiamiCentral was originally a railroad station opened April 15, 1896 as the southern terminus of Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway (FEC). The station was the southern end of the FEC line until 1905, when construction began to Key West via the Overseas Railroad. The FEC built a wooden passenger station building in 1912 at site of what would become the Dade County Courthouse. Construction on the courthouse was started in 1925 and finished 1928. Seaboard Air Line Railroad intercity passenger rail started service at the location in 1927. FEC and Seaboard both regularly serviced the site until January 23, 1963, when union workers for both companies went on strike.
At the insistence of the City of Miami, which had long fought to get rid of the tracks in the downtown section just north of the county courthouse, the downtown passenger terminal was demolished by November 1963. Although a new station was planned at the Buena Vista yard near North Miami Avenue and 36th Street (US 27), it was never built. The site of the old station was left as parking lots until construction of MiamiCentral began in 2014.
When FEC ended their passenger service, this left Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (service absorbed by Amtrak in 1971) as the sole intercity rail in Miami. They operated out of the decaying Allapattah terminal at Northwest 22nd Street and Seventh Avenue (US 441) until in 1978 Amtrak moved to its current location near Hialeah.
New station
In March 2012, All Aboard Florida, a subsidiary of Florida East Coast Industries who also owns the Florida East Coast Railway, announced plans to connect Miami and Orlando, Florida with Higher-speed passenger rail service. In May 2014 All Aboard Florida unveiled their plans for the 9 acre site, construction anticipated in late 2014. It will include two tracks on either side of an island platform, 50 ft above street level, 3 million square feet of transit-oriented development, with Retail shops at street level and hotel rooms, housing and office space would occupy number towers above the station. By August 2014 the parking lots that have occupied the site for decades were closed and the site was being prepared for construction.