This map, taken from the system map of the CSX Railway, shows the extent of the CSX-owned rail trackage south and west of Miami International Airport, which CSX is proposing to sell to the State of Florida to expand Tri-Rail. The dashed blue lines are those which CSX has access to under operating agreements and the solid blue lines are CSX-owned. North of here, CSX doesn't own a thing until Riviera Beach, making CSX's rationale for unloading the rest clearer. Maintenance must be a royal pain. The current idea is only to utilize the trackage extending to Doral and west. Purchasing the trackage extending all the way down to Homestead would be a big commitment, but if more extensively utilized could potentially come with some big advantages for Tri-Rail.
State ownership of the CSX rail line to Homestead would mean the potential of a major commuter rail line, likely Tri-Rail, all the way to Homestead and passing through suburbs containing hundreds of thousands of people along the way. The southern interior of the county, a car-oriented country of suburban sprawl, would have a commuter rail line shooting down its middle, with a few destinations along the way. It could open up a large corridor for effective transit-oriented development and addition density for a growing metropolis. As Curbed commenter Kristian Toimil says:
I guess we could have stops at Tropical Park, MDC Kendall Campus, Metrozoo, and if we also take that swath of rail that lead to the Kendall Regional Airport, well we could put a stop there too. Commenter Ghetto Urchin also points out:
It would definitely help boost the attractiveness of South Dade / Miami tremendously. From a practical perspective, we'll probably have low utilization for a long while (much like the existing Tri-Rail system). The real trick is not paying through the nose for a lackluster/useless system such as DART in Dallas. · CSX System Map [CSX]
· CSX coverage [Curbed Miami]
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