MIAMI — The executive director of commuter operator Tri-Rail has said he will resign in the wake of criticism over the agency’s handling of problems with the platform at Brightline’s MiamiCentral station, which is intended to also host Tri-Rail service.
Steven Abrams announced his intent to resign at a board meeting last week, then told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel he had a “great run” as director: “I erased a $16 million deficit, improved on-time performance, and we had the second biggest comeback of any commuter railroad in the country emerging from the pandemic.”
But he and others in Tri-Rail management came under fire after it emerged that the platform for Tri-Rail at MiamiCentral was too wide for its trains because of protruding steps on the commuter operators’ coaches [see “Tri-Rail service to Brightline’s Miami station faces clearance issues,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 13, 2021]. While Brightline and Tri-Rail blamed each other for the problem, board members of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Tri-Rail’s parent body, were highly critical when it emerged that the operator had known of the problem in April but did not inform the board until December.
Abrams left his departure date open, saying he wanted to give the board the opportunity to begin the process of selecting a successor.
Reminds me of Amtrak’s tilt Excela that can’t tilt on the north of New Have tracks because of clearance issues.
“I erased a $16 million deficit” only under duress after FDOT removed their state subsidy and warned them they had to find their own funding locally.
As for the steps not fitting at Miami Central, the engineering for the platforms were done long before TriRail decided to jump on the wagon and fund a switch to allow MC use. And to show how hasty TriRail was to get access to MC, clearly the due diligence was less than stellar.
Wouldn’t you not agree on a new station access until you have confirmed in writing your trainsets could actually work? The fact that TriRail engineers were still arguing with Brightline structural engineers on weight limits for the approaches to the station as late as December, well, says more about TriRTail than it does with Brightline.
When its said and done, watch for TriRail to attempt to purchase new cars that do fit at Miami Central just for that service. Leave the rest to come and go at Hialea until they wear out.