SunRail Testing Underway

[Scott Orlando]

SunRail now has 3 locomotives and 7 passenger cars. Several stations are almost complete. Testing is underway for the spring 2014 start of service. He are a few pics....

 

[pennyk]

Thanks. I wish I could have seen it in person. Photos are the next best thing.

 

[Scott Orlando]

Penny, The past week that have been doing the break in period for #102. The initial testing of 100 never went south of Maitland, but 101 and 102 have been going all the way to Sand Lake (and as far north as Benson Junction). It seems like the best time to catch them is mid morning or late afternoon.

 

[Bob Dylan]

:hi: Nice Pics! I wondered why I didn't see penny on the Platform in the One with the Silver Train @ the Orlando Station?? ^_^

Question for our Orlando Area Members: Will Sun Rail be Useful for Just Commuters or will Tourists and Locals be able to use it for Transportation, Joy Rides etc. also? :help:

 

[Scott Orlando]

The vast majority of those who will use it will be commuters. The first and second phase (the second just extends the first farther north and south) do not go very close to tourist areas. Phase 1 and 2 will be great for commuters, locals and joy rides and pretty cheap ($2 one way, per county, with 4 counties total with the 61 mile phase 2.). How it evolves from here is important. They are studying the purchase of a coal plant's spur line to the airport, and I am a huge advocate of this expansion. That spur would enter the airport from the south into the new master planned airport station where you could transfer to FEC's All Aboard Florida train to south Florida. And when that spur ultimately becomes an east-west line across the south side of Orlando (linking the airport to the convention center and tourist areas) then we will be 'cooking with gas'. But for now baby steps and hopefully alot of riders. The route that opens in the spring parallels Interstate 4, which is frequently a nightmare and in 2015 starts a 7 year-$1 billion makeover. It is a very similar situation to when Tri-Rail in south Florida was born as I-95 was completely redone.

 

[pennyk]

I was walking downtown this afternoon hoping to see 98. Unfortunately, I missed 98, but got a great view of a Southbound SunRail doing a test run. I think I was around Washington Street, It made my day.

 

[XHRTSP]

Living in the Panhandle I'm not too familiar with the story behind SunRail, so forgive a dumb question please. Was this train ever related to the HSR funding Gov Scott kicked back to DC? Or is this something else entirely different? Assuming it caught on and did favorable business, could it branch out to Miami, Tampa, etc and fulfill that role?

 

[Scott Orlando]

This project is completely separate from the HSR project. Gov Scott put both projects on hold for financial re-evaluation shortly after taking office. With soil testing and right of way surveying beginning, he cancelled the HSR project. With that there was wide speculation SunRail would be next but after few months delay it was given the green light. Now the speculation is FEC's All Aboard Florida will one day extend the Miami-Orlando route and use the HSRs plans for a NEC type high speed. Who knows...

As far as expansion beyond what is officially planned, Volusia county has expressed interest in a northern expansion from DeLand to Daytona, but would require new construction. Lakeland and Tampa area politicans and media have talked about going south on existing track. But for now I am thrilled to see something that has been talked about for 30 years just a few months from opening day.

 

[Anderson]

This project is completely separate from the HSR project. Gov Scott put both projects on hold for financial re-evaluation shortly after taking office. With soil testing and right of way surveying beginning, he cancelled the HSR project. With that there was wide speculation SunRail would be next but after few months delay it was given the green light. Now the speculation is FEC's All Aboard Florida will one day extend the Miami-Orlando route and use the HSRs plans for a NEC type high speed. Who knows...

As far as expansion beyond what is officially planned, Volusia county has expressed interest in a northern expansion from DeLand to Daytona, but would require new construction. Lakeland and Tampa area politicans and media have talked about going south on existing track. But for now I am thrilled to see something that has been talked about for 30 years just a few months from opening day.

The Deland-Daytona connection talk does not surprise me. IIRC, there's already a plan to beef up the bus connection on this route. The problem is that Sunrail, as planned now, simply improves on an existing rail line (namely the A-line). To get to Daytona, you'd need to put in "new" alignment in a big way.

As far as going south, I do expect to see that in some form. The question is whether it happens on CSX or on an FEC/I-4 alignment.

 

[Fan Railer]

Two videos from MC CJ:

 

[Scott Orlando]

Word around Sanford is that SunRail will be a little short of equipment. I believe there are still only 4 locomotives (100-103) but plenty of cab and non-cab cars. The locomotives are taking turns spending time in the Auto Train shops. With the May 1st start up day approaching there are 3 visitors from South Florida here....3 FDOT DMU units. Here is a picture of the SunRail yard....

 

[cirdan]

Word around Sanford is that SunRail will be a little short of equipment. I believe there are still only 4 locomotives (100-103) but plenty of cab and non-cab cars.

Maybe they want to start off with a skeleton service and add to it as equipment becomes available.

 

[Caesar La Rock]

I hope we keep those DMUs to be honest with you. They look cool. Was told they were slow to get up to speed, according to one of the Sunrail engineers. He even said that the fastest they got it up too was 70 mph.