SunRail ridership on new Osceola section compares to original section

SunRail numbers for just two days show that stations along the commuter train’s recent southern expansion are comparable in popularity to the original stations.

The commuter train began to run into Osceola County on Monday, four years after service started between south Volusia and south Orange counties.

David Porter, whose public relations company produces the blog SunRailRiders.com, said when the system started in 2014 it was crowded initially with curiosity seekers.

By comparison, he said, the atmosphere Monday was of riders getting on at the four new stations and behaving like veterans.

Even those who had never ridden a train before appeared to understand the routine, Porter said.

“They had been waiting a long time for this service,” he said.

For Monday and Tuesday, the inaugural days of SunRail’s 17-mile push from south Orange into Osceola, the Poinciana Station drew nearly 1,000 boardings each day.

The Poinciana Station is now the southernmost of SunRail’s 16 stations. The passenger count there was nearly that of the northernmost station at DeBary in south Volusia County.

Poinciana had an average of 984 boardings on those days, following closely behind station counts at: DeBary with 1,303; Winter Park with 1,263; Orlando Central with 1,079; and Church Street with 1,193.

Of the 12 original stations, Sand Lake Road Station in south Orange had been the southernmost and the most popular.

Through the past year, 101,179 people got on a SunRail train at Sand Lake Road, eclipsing the next-highest counts at Church Street Station of 95,524 and at Orlando Central Station of 93,515.

But Monday and Tuesday, the count at Sand Lake Road Station took a dive, lagging behind three of the four new stations.

Along with Poinciana, the new stations are Meadow Woods, Tupperware and Kissimmee.

SunRail’s average daily ridership was 3,427 in April; 3,311 in May; and 3,535 in June.

With the expansion, the number climbed to 6,326 Monday; 5,957 Tuesday; and 6,516 Wednesday.

All the figures were provided by the state Department of Transportation, the manager of SunRail until 2021.