MIAMI, Fla. — Passenger and commuter rail services in Florida are making plans to resume now that Hurricane Milton has passed through the state — although the storm has left significant damage in its wake. Amtrak, Brightline, and South Florida commuter operator Tri-Rail will all resume at least some service on Friday, Oct. 11
Tri-Rail service between Miami and West Palm Beach will resume Friday, Oct. 11. Some debris was reported on the right-of-way near the Mangonia Park station in West Palm Beach; that was expected to be cleared by mid-afternoon today (Oct. 10). Test trains were scheduled to operate this evening to make sure all crossings, track circuits and signals are working properly.
“We are happy to report that the railroad received very minimal damage as a result of the storm and we expect be prepared for full service tomorrow,” said David Dech, executive director of Tri-Rail’s parent agency, the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority. “Our thoughts are with Central Florida and all who suffered through the worst part of the storm. We pray for a speedy recovery.”
Brightline, which halted service between West Palm Beach and Orlando, says that service will fully resume Friday, but did not specify when that would occur. A post on X.com indicates service will resune “as soon as all safety inspections are complete.” The company recommends checking the Train Status page of the Brightline website for up-to-date information.
Amtrak will offer modified service for the Silver Star and Silver Meteor on Friday, according to an advisory on the company’s website. Northbound trains 92 and 98 will originate in Jacksonville, while southbound trains 91 and 97 will terminate there. The north- and southbound Auto Trains remain cancelled on Friday. The ticketing portion of Amtrak’s website indicates those trains will resume operation on Saturday, Oct. 12, which is also the first day the Silver Service trains are expected to run their full routes.
Orlando’s SunRail will resume operations on Monday, Oct. 14. That service has been suspended since Tuesday, Oct. 8. SunRail said in a press release that crews were assessing Milton’s impact today and resolving issues needing to be addressed before service could resume. That includes removing any obstructions on the right-of-way, reinstalling crossing gates that were removed prior to the storm, and conducting safety inspections. Service will not return this weekend because SunRail is a Monday-through-Friday operation.
