It does kind of seems to me a line to Orlando would eventually want to go a bit further than just Orlando airport but to the Disney World campus. I mean are people really going to fly into Orlando airport to take a train to Miami?
I'm just a little concerned it might have some disappointing numbers when it first opens given its public competition in a state so auto-centric to begin with. Eventually I can see Tri-Rail and Brightline being complementary but initially I see some concerns.
LOOK at the quality of Brightline station locations 3 major downtown cities
Miami,Ft laud, WPB plus future WAVE streetcar in Ft laud
20-30 years ago those downtowns where NOT good places but very nice now.
also about Orlando dont forget
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SunRai..._Connection.29
sunrail is still not very good now but after phase 2 and 3
plus 7 days a week service should do better.

Local connectivity in Orlando seems to be a key to the success of this project. Why would the airport be 'the' destination?

The station at the airport in Orlando is going to be a major intermodal transportation hub. It will be the best place for the trains to go.

I would agree with you that the airport would not be the best place if it didn't have the intermodal transportation hub. Alas, that's not going to be the case.:cheers:

No need to extend the line to Disney World. If you are staying at a Disney hotel, they already have a free bus that takes you and your bags from the Orlando Airport to your hotel:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/gu...gical-express/
I imagine if the train becomes a popular way to get to Disney World, they may extend that offer to all ticket-holders, hotel or not. Either way, it should be Disney's job to get people to their resorts from the train station, not AAF's.

I agree though, that the southern end of the line is very impressive from an urbanist/car-free perspective, while Orlando is nearly the definition of car-dependent. I know changes are coming. And by stopping at the airport rather than going into downtown, AAF is pointed in the right direction to continue on to Tampa Bay. Though I guess with locomotives on each end it doesn't matter which way the train is pointed; they could share rails with Sunrail into downtown Orlando, switch operating ends, then proceed back down to Tampa. That would be ideal. Perhaps they're waiting for SunRail to pay for improvements from downtown to the airport so that they don't have to pay for it themselves.

sunrail sunrail sunrail also dont forget
Downtown West Palm Beach
Downtown Fort Lauderdale
Downtown Miami
http://www.thenextmiami.com/tag/brightline/

wow airport station to be shared with tri-rail
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/br...213-story.html

Isnt the market for the train mainly getting visitors in the Orlando area down to Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach? Just seems to me the train would be a lot more attractive if there was a station in the Disney World area, where many visitors already are on vacation and would be impulsively taking a trip south car-free. Orlando airport to Disney World travel would be icing on the cake.

And how do you think most of the Disney World vacationers got to Orlando in the first place? Nope, it couldn't be by jet through Orlando's airport!:sly::frog:

When is Sunrail actually going to run to the airport?
When are schedules going to improve so that it isn't mostly a commuter service?
When will Sunrail connect the airport to major Orlando tourist attractions and hotel districts?

I realise that the plan calls for an intermodal hub at Orlando airport but when will it actually provide local service? Not just a connection between the airport and the Miami bound train. To me, the local connection is crucial. How many years is the local connection away?

This is SunRail Phase 2 currently under construction :

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VG7QbDvrOI...7+11.41.46.png
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VG7QbDvrOI...7+11.41.46.png

SunRail currently runs on CSX freight tracks that the state of Florida bought out to provide Commuter rail service so the connection to the airport to major Orlando tourist attractions and hotel districts is distant.

Phase 3 will connect the Orlando Airport to SunRail :

http://theglobalgrid.org/wp-content/...-1015x1024.jpg
http://theglobalgrid.org/wp-content/...-1015x1024.jpg

Sand Lake Road station to OIA | All Aboard Florida's train station which is about 5 miles of new rail construction.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5628/...ac76fca9_b.jpghttps://farm6.staticflickr.com/5628/...ac76fca9_b.jpg

^ The map above is self-explanatory .

So to answer your Questions :

#1: SunRail will run to the Airport eventually.

"When are schedules going to improve so that it isn't mostly a commuter service?"

#2: what part of Commuter Rail do you not understand when it comes to schedules ?

#3: The local connection is better with SunRail if you are visiting Orlando proper since most of Disney & the attractions are in the southwestern suburbs of Orlando proper.

So the main purpose of Brightline in Orlando is to transfer rail passengers onto planes?

This leaves me so puzzled.

It is so strange to have this expensive train plan but once you get there, you have to rent a car.

miami has like billions of tourists....
orlando has like billions of tourists.....
people from europe take trains everywhere

plus UCF students from dade/broward/palm beach
heck I live here with a nice car but miami I95 is/was terrible
going to Heat games is nasty traffic & parking
never will drive to MIA airport ever again

so it sounds like the spur to Orlando may not even happen? That's crazy. Can't be that much demand for rail transit from WPB to Miami

So you travel all the way back to Orlando airport to catch a train to Miami? Might as well get on a plane or just keep driving your rental car. Adding a $50 cab onto a train trip doesnt seem too attractive. It just seems to me like an odd location for a relatively short distance train to have a single station for a metro area. I thought one of the main advantages of trains was the location of station in the heart of the action. They clearly got that with the locations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

Even if it didn't take you to the heart of the action, there should be a convenient and frequent connection. I look at all these plans and it looks like a connection is years away and current rail transit is no more than commuter rail, which has little service outside of peak periods. For a visitor to Orlando, how is this attractive? I know my only trip to Orlando involved a car rental. Looks like we are a long way before a worthwhile alternative is provided.

The heart of the action in Orlando is NOT downtown Orlando. It's the I-4 Corridor, which the airport is closer to more hotels than downtown Orlando.:koko:

yeah we know I agree but still with new orlando airport station
and better sunrail service not bad start.
http://www.cityoforlando.net/mayor/w...EX-ITF-2-3.jpg
merry xmas

http://www.biscaynegreenmiami.com/events
downtown miami grand opening friday jan 6th

" V " columns arrive @ the downtown Miami station
 

http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2gbw5ndm.jpg
http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2gbw5ndm.jpg

https://thenewtropic.com/2017-local-...rancis-suarez/
this link is about new rail lines in miami/dade
but also bonus link about biscayne green thing
thinking of going next week