For the first time since it opened in 1984, Metrorail will add a new rail line that will provide easy access to Miami International Airport (MIA). On Saturday, July 28, Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) officially will open its 23rd Metrorail station — the new Miami International Airport (MIA) Station.
Trains serving Metrorail’s new Orange Line will take passengers to all stations between Dadeland South and Earlington Heights, continuing west towards the new MIA Station.
The 2.4-mile Metrorail extension to MIA, which runs parallel to State Road 112 and crosses the Miami River, is considered the centerpiece of the People’s Transportation Plan (PTP). The PTP, which is overseen by the Citizen’s Independent Transportation Trust (CITT), is the half-penny sales surtax approved by Miami-Dade voters in 2002. Construction of Metrorail’s extension and station were funded with $404.7 million from the PTP surtax and $101.3 million from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).
“This is such an exciting project for our community, and it’s going to be a huge benefit for our residents and visitors, alike,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez. “By directly linking our airport to our urban center, we’re joining the ranks of the great world cities — London, Paris, Tokyo — that already enjoy this kind of dynamic, game-changing connectivity.”
Metrorail’s new service will make it possible for millions of Miami-Dade County residents, visitors and airport employees to have a reliable and seamless Metrorail connection to and from the airport’s MIA Mover, which will take transit riders directly into the airport. It also will provide a boost to the local economy by creating jobs and facilitating work-related travel, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve travel time by taking vehicles off our roadways.
“With this new service to the airport, every hotel and business in downtown Miami, Coconut Grove, Hialeah, Kendall, and everywhere else along the Metrorail system will now be at the front door of Miami International Airport — the largest economic engine in the region,” said Ysela Llort, Miami-Dade Transit director.
The new MIA Station is a multilevel structure that will provide passengers with a central transfer point to Metrobus and later to Tri-Rail, Amtrak, Greyhound, tour buses and other modes of transportation via the Miami Central Station, which currently is under construction. The Miami Central Station is being sponsored and built by the Florida Department of Transportation.
For more information on the Orange Line and new MIA Metrorail station, visit www.miamidade.gov/transit (on mobile devices, www.miamidade.gov/transit/mobile, or call 3-1-1, Monday-Friday, from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m., and on Saturday, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Closed on Sundays and during county-observed holidays.
