Miami, FL (MIA)

8303 NW 37th Ave
Miami, FL 33147

Station Ownership

Facility:
Amtrak

Parking:
Amtrak

Platform(s):
Amtrak

Track(s):
Florida Department of Transportation

Amtrak Contact

Todd Stennis

Routes Served:

• Silver Meteor
• Silver Star

History

The present-day Miami station is a modern concrete structure built in 1998 and lies just east of the Miami International Airport in the Hialeah area. It is also the southern terminus of the Tri-Rail commuter rail system. At the time of its construction, Amtrak was building stations to a standard plan and the Miami station is very similar to the Amtrak station in St. Paul, Minn.

Amtrak is scheduled to relocate to Miami Central Station, which when opened in 2010, will also be a bus, rapid transit and commuter rail station. It will be part of the larger Miami Intermodal Center, consisting of a rental car center, the Miami Central Station, major roadway improvements, the MIA Mover transit system and a joint development component. Its estimated completion date is 2012. The U. S. Department of Transportation has identified the MIC as a project of national significance. The completed center will cost $1.7 billion and is expected to serve approximately 150,000 commuters and travelers daily.

Though native peoples had occupied it for centuries, Europeans first arrived in the Miami area in 1566, when Pedro Menedez de Aviles claimed it for Spain, and a Spanish mission constructed a year later. In 1836, under American control, Fort Dallas was built and occupied during the fighting of the Second Seminole War.

The city of Miami, as we know it, began with the railroad. Henry S. Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway was supposed to terminate in Palm Beach, which it had reached by 1894. However, with the severe freezes hitting Central Florida in 1894 and 1895, he rethought this decision. It is said that Julia Tuttle, one of two main landowners in Miami (then called Biscayne Bay) sent him a bouquet of orange blossoms to show that her area was unaffected and that her groves were still producing. Tuttle, along with William Bricknell, offered land to Flagler’s railroad in exchange for routing the line through Miami. By 1896, the Florida East Coast Railway reached Biscayne Bay, at present downtown Miami. Flagler further developed the area surrounding the new station by dredging a channel, building streets and the Royal Palm Hotel, instituting the first water and power systems, and financing the town’s first newspaper, the Metropolis.

That original Florida East Coast Railway station was located near the Dade County Courthouse, and the building was standing as late as 1962. Today, no trace beyond some tracks remains. The Miami station has been located in several different places over the years.

Miami has grown very rapidly in the 110 years since its founding, that explosive growth earning it the nickname, “The Magic City.” Miami prospered during the early 1920s Florida land boom, and suffered after a destructive hurricane in 1926 and the Great Depression of the 1930s. During World War II, Miami and the south Florida area played a large role in the battle against German submarines; the war expanded the city’s population considerably by bringing military families to settle there. After Fidel Castro rose to power in 1959, many Cubans came to Miami. Today the city is a major international financial and cultural center and is considered a gateway to South America.

Amtrak provides both ticketing and baggage services at this facility.

Miami is served by four daily trains.

ADA Compliance

Federal law requires compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by 2010. The following is a list of items typically required for transportation and public facilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Please check the regulations for guidance or contact us for more information.