The idea sounded plausible enough: Run late-night Tri-Rail trains to and from downtown Miami and Miami International Airport to serve swing-shift workers, late-night revelers and air travelers who arrive after sundown. But a pilot program started last year by South Florida’s publicly subsidized commuter line failed to draw enough riders to justify the service, a spokesman confirmed this week. The trains will stop running effective June 30. The railroad quietly posted the changes on its website Monday. The affected segments include southbound trains after 9 p.m., and northbound trains after midnight. “The discontinued trains ran for the last year as a pilot program to gauge demand for late night service,” Vince Sciullo, project manager for public affairs, said in an email. “Unfortunately, due to low ridership we could not justify continuing to run the service at this time.” The company’s average ridership for daytime trains is about 6,500 rides a month, with the highest ridership on some trains regularly surpassing 10,000. But the two night trains plateaued at 1,500 a month each, failing to show any signs of growth. The elimination of those trains will allow the company to spend money on services for special events such as FIFA soccer games, Formula One races or high-profile concerts. Although the night trains are fading away, Tri-Rail is adding trains to its daylight service.
Overall ridership on the rise
But systemwide, the railroad says, its ridership has been showing signs of growth with a 2% increase year-over-year in the first quarter of 2025. “The system has averaged 385,000 passengers a month in 2025, with March just short of 400,000 rides,” the railroad’s operating parent, the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, said in an April statement. The system, the agency added, “served over 4.4 million riders in 2024, about 30,000 short of its highest ridership record year in 2019 of 4,495,039 riders.” “As we continue to expand and enhance our services, it’s clear that South Floridians are increasingly recognizing the value and convenience of Tri-Rail,” David Dech, the authority’s executive director, said in the April statement. “With more people relying on Tri-Rail for their daily commute and travel, we remain committed to improving service and ensuring a reliable transportation option so even more people come onboard.” Despite the thin support for night rides to the airport, “ridership reports indicate that airport travel remains a major driver of Tri-Rail growth, with the Miami airport and Fort Lauderdale airport stations being [No.] 1 and [No.] 3 busiest stations for the system, respectively.” The Metrorail transfer station in Miami-Dade is the second busiest. One of Tri-Rail’s most prominent service additions —
an express train service to the MiamiCentral station in downtown Miami — was averaging 450 round-trip riders per day in the first quarter and “often tops 500,” the statement said. Started in July 2024, the express service offers a weekday southbound morning train and a northbound evening train, “providing limited stops and a one-seat ride between MiamiCentral and West Palm Beach.” “We are grateful to have a dedicated ridership base that supports Tri-Rail and lets us know what we need to do to improve our services,” Dech said. “This continued growth in ridership demonstrates people are appreciating our efforts to make this a better system.” A growing loyal ridership is what Tri-Rail needs to justify its existence. In March,
Dech warned public officials that the railroad needs an increase in public funding from its primary benefactors — Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties — if it is to continue operating over the long term.
