Location Orlando, Florida Parking Yes | Connections ✈ | |
Owned by Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) Line(s) All Aboard Florida:
Brightline (2017)
SunRail:
SunRail
Airport Link (Proposed) Opening 2018 Brightline (planned) Owner Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) | ||
The Orlando International Airport Intermodal Terminal or South Airport Intermodal Terminal is an intermodal transit complex under construction at the Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida. The new station, which is partially being funded by the Florida Department of Transportation, will serve as the Orlando station for the Brightline higher speed regional rail service, which will connect Orlando International Airport to downtown Miami via the Florida East Coast Railway. The facility will be connected to the main airport terminal roughly a mile to the north via an automated people mover (APM) system.
Contents
History
The facility mostly reuses plans from the proposed Florida High Speed Rail system. In that plan, the Orlando International Airport station was to be the northern terminus of the initial Tampa-to-Orlando route along Interstate 4. The plan was effectively cancelled when Florida governor Rick Scott announced he would reject federal funding for the project. The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority had already invested considerably to accommodate the station and high-speed rail line, such as the extra length of the south taxiway bridges over the southern airport access road, which will now be used by Brightline. As part of the estimated $684 million price tag for the intermodal terminal complex, the airport authority is also building a new 2,500 space parking garage.
Future use
A future connection to the SunRail commuter rail service is also being explored. The 5.5 mile route currently under consideration would travel 3.5 miles from the existing SunRail line along a Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) rail spur, which runs along the southern boundary of the airport's property and is used exclusively by coal trains to serve the Curtis H. Stanton Energy Center in eastern Orange County. From there, two options are currently under consideration; one plan would have SunRail trains branch north off of the existing OUC line and onto a new 2-mile spur that would terminate at the planned South Airport Intermodal Terminal. The second option being explored would be to build a transfer station along the OUC line where passengers would transfer from SunRail trains onto light rail trains that would run along a dedicated 2-mile line between the transfer and airport stations.
In addition to Brightline and SunRail, the station will also serve one of two proposed rail connections to International Drive. The first option being considered is an elevated maglev train system that would be built by American Maglev Technology, which would connect the airport to the Orange County Convention Center, the Florida Mall, and the Sand Lake Road SunRail station. A second option being explored would be a light rail line that would most likely run along a similar route as the maglev alternative between the airport and International Drive.