DeLAND, Fla. — Orlando-area commuter service SunRail will begin operations on its new 12-mile northern extension to DeLand on Monday, Aug. 12, the operator has announced.
The station, at 2491 Old New York Avenue, is also served by Amtrak’s Silver Meteor and Silver Star. It hosted the first of two open-house events to familiarize prospective passengers with SunRail on July 27; the second is set for Saturday, Aug. 3, from 9 a.m. to noon.
The northernmost stop on the 61-mile, 17-station route spanning four counties underwent a lengthy gestation period. Planned as part of the system from its original approval by voters in 2007, efforts to fund the Phase 2 construction north to DeLand date to at least 2015. It survived a 2019 offer from SunRail’s parent agency, the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission, to kill the station because of local concerns about costs [see “SunRail hopes funding will enable extension …,” Trains News Wire, July 19, 2019]. Work was then delayed by a contractor’s challenge to the bid process [see “Bid question delays SunRail extension,” News Wire, Feb. 23, 2022]. Ground was finally broken on the new facility last May.
The station and stop that even the current residents of DeLand didn’t want. Look for an explosion of development west of DeLand to leverage the new service.