Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams is optimistic about plans for an eastern companion to Tri-Rail — Tri-Rail Coastal — that would take passengers into the hearts of coastal cities from Jupiter to Miami.
Tri-Rail runs west of many downtowns along the CSX tracks. The proposed Tri-Rail Coastal train would run farther east on the Florida East Coast Railway tracks.
Plans call for connections that would link existing Tri-Rail service to the slower, multi-stop Tri-Rail Coastal system. Passengers could travel longer distances on Tri-Rail, then transfer to the short-hop coastal train to reach their final destinations.
Proponents of the coastal city rail service are more hopeful now that Florida East Coast Industries, a Coral Gables-based railroad and real estate company, is rolling out its $1 billion All Aboard Florida plan to whisk passengers from Miami to Orlando with stops in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.