SunRail

SunRail is a commuter rail system in the Greater Orlando, Florida, area. Services began on May 1, 2014. The system comprises 17 stations along a former CSX Transportation line connecting Volusia County and Osceola County through Downtown Orlando. The SunRail system is financed by the state and federal governments and the counties it serves. SunRail is Florida's second commuter rail system after South Florida's Tri-Rail. A southern extension to Poinciana via Kissimmee, with four additional stations, opened on July 30, 2018. On August 12, 2024, SunRail started a new service to DeLand as part of the northern extension. In , the line had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .

SunRail is a commuter rail system in the Greater Orlando, Florida, area. Services began on May 1, 2014. The system comprises 17 stations along a former CSX Transportation line connecting Volusia County and Osceola County through Downtown Orlando. The SunRail system is financed by the state and federal governments and the counties it serves. SunRail is Florida's second commuter rail system after South Florida's Tri-Rail. A southern extension to Poinciana via Kissimmee, with four additional stations, opened on July 30, 2018. On August 12, 2024, SunRail started a new service to DeLand as part of the northern extension. In , the line had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . ====Previous proposals==== SunRail officials had been investigating a connection to Orlando International Airport since the mid-2010s. Currently this connection requires transferring to a public Lynx bus at Sand Lake Road Station. Early proposals also used the existing Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) rail spur, which runs along the southern boundary of the airport's property and is used exclusively by coal trains to serve the Curtis H. Stanton Energy Center in eastern Orange County. Trains would then branch off onto a new spur that would terminate at the Orlando International Airport Intermodal Terminal. Other proposals separate from SunRail were also made, including an abandoned plan for a privately-built maglev from Orlando Airport to International Drive that would have connected with SunRail. The Orlando International Airport Intermodal Terminal opened in 2017, though track connecting it to the OUC spur was not built until 2022 by Brightline. The intermodal terminal is adjacent to the airport's new south terminal and is connected to the main airport terminal via a people mover. The Orlando International Airport Intermodal Terminal is since September 2023 the terminus of Brightline. The cost of the Phase 3 expansion under this proposal was originally estimated at $100 million. In September 2015, SunRail officials submitted a request to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to move the project from the initial planning phase into the project development phase, which it approved on October 26, 2015. In April 2017, a state study of constructing trackage to the airport found that it would cost about $250 million, and with no funding sources identified the project was left with no timetable for execution. In 2018, Brightline announced its intentions to expand west from Orlando Internarional Airport to Tampa. Brightline's initial proposed route for this expansion would exit the airport south, run west along the OUC Spur, then south along the SunRail main line with a stop at Meadow Woods station before turning west and running along the State Road 417 corridor to a station at Disney Springs. This proposal caused talks for SunRail connection to the airport to resume. In late 2020, Brightline added that they were studying the possibility of allowing SunRail to operate on their line between Disney Springs and Innovation Way with stops at Hunter's Creek, the existing Meadow Woods station, and the Orlando International Airport Intermodal Center. However, this route was opposed by Universal Orlando, whose theme parks would be bypassed under this plan which led to the development of the current Sunshine Corridor proposal. As the Sunshine Corridor was being planned, the Walt Disney Company backed out of a plan to allow a station on their property at Disney Springs. The International Drive South station was then planned as an alternative and will be located just outside of Disney property.

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