AirportLink
In May 2009, Miami-Dade County broke ground on the AirportLink Metrorail Extension Project, a 2.4-mile extension of Metrorail that runs from the existing Earlington Heights station to the Miami Intermodal Center (MIC), now completed next to Miami International Airport (MIA).
Opened on July 28, 2012, the AirportLink is considered the centerpiece of the People's Transportation Plan (PTP), approved by Miami-Dade voters in 2002. The bulk of the funding for the $506 million project will come from the PTP half-penny tax, with the Florida Department of Transportation contributing $101.3 million.
The AirportLink provides a reliable transit connection to the airport for the millions of residents, visitors and employees who travel to and from MIA every year. With this project, Miami-Dade County joins the many major metropolitan areas around the world with rapid transit connections to their airports. In June 2011, when the Metrorail portion of the project was 81% complete, the project end date was slated as April 29, 2012. As of January 2012, the AirportLink track work was 100% complete, the substations have been electrified and load testing with two-car trains has commenced.
The final phase of the Miami Central Station project, which will serve Tri-Rail and Amtrak with a station located next to the Metrorail station, began construction in September 2011 and is expected to open in 2013. The original Metrorail line was initially planned to be built to the airport, but due to political pressure and lobbying was instead directed to its current alignment around the airport and to Hialeah.
Read more about this topic: Metrorail (Miami)