SunRail is a train with an unknown future
SunRail’s expansion into Osceola County this summer – going from three counties to four, from 12 stations to 16 and from 32 miles to 49 – is giving the commuter train a measurable boost in rider numbers.
The Central Florida transit system is slated for an operational and financial takeover by the region in little more than two years. There is no plan for how to cover annual costs now nearing $60 million, for how to run the train or for how to grow its schedule and service area.
But SunRail’s operator, the Florida Department of Transportation, recently gave local officials a station-by-station briefing on where riders get on and get off. Those statistics, while not overwhelming, show that the train is now performing about as well south of Orlando as north of the city.
Here are snapshots of SunRail numbers.
48,631
How many riders got on at SunRail’s Orlando’s Church Street Station from July through October. It was the busiest station, followed by 45,630 boardings at Central Station in Orlando in that period.
36,025
The number of riders from July through October who got on the train in SunRail’s northernmost county, Volusia, at the station in DeBary, which opened in 2014.
61,493
The number of riders from July through October who boarded in the southernmost county, Osceola, at its newly opened stations, Tupperware, Kissimmee and Poinciana.
37,585
Riders who got on in Winter Park for the same period, making it SunRail’s third-busiest stop. 11,937 and 15,650
Riders who boarded from July through October at Tupperware Station and Maitland Station, respectively, which were SunRail’s least busy.
70,000 to 80,000 Number of riders each month prior to expansion into Osceola County.
134,333, 100,400, 127,606
Riders in August, September and October – all since expansion.