Central Florida Commuter Rail

What's There Now - A Look At Planned Station Locations

Orlando Health / Amtrak Station

This station will be constructed on the north side of the existing, active Orlando Amtrak Station.  It will utilize existing Amtrak parking facilities.  New bus drop off and "kiss and ride" drives will be added.

The Amtrak building is a magnificent old structure.  Built in 1926 for the Atlantic Coast Line, it has seen multitudes pass through its doors and witnessed the change from train to car to plane, but still continues to serve its rail passengers.  The exterior is white painted stucco with Spanish Mission style towers, arches and details; and the interior is replete with graciously curved wooden benches.

Part of the Commuter Rail agreement with CSX is to have freight operations relocated from Orlando to a new facility in Winter Haven.  This will free up substantial space in the existing Orlando station complex for Commuter Rail facilities as well as new transit oriented development.

Apart from the space mentioned above however, there is little unused property surrounding the station with most of it being used by Orlando Health and allied medical offices.  Any substantial transit oriented development that takes place at this location will, of necessity, be in conjunction with Orlando Health.  Outside the Orlando Health complex there are numerous restaurants and shops, especially along Orange Avenue to the east, that stand to benefit from Commuter Rail riders.

Also, in the immediate area there are thousands of medical employees that represent potential Commuter Rail riders.

One issue that has had much discussion is the Commuter Rail train schedule.  Presently it provides for trains every 30 minutes during traditional rush hours, but off-peak service drops to one train every two hours.  This may not work well for the employees of the two medical complexes to be served by Commuter Rail which have 24 hour operations.  The best case would be that demand would be great enough to schedule more trains during busier off-peak times.