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SunRail Starts Revenue Service  May 19th, 2014 | WMFE, Orlando- Passengers on Central Florida's commuter train will have to pay to ride, beginning today. An estimated 60,000 passengers tried SunRail for free during its first two weeks of service. [Photo: Brendan Byrne, WMFE] Estimated boardings- or passenger trips- on SunRail were more than 10,000 per day since May 1st. Florida Department of Transportation officials were forced to add an extra car to some trains, and at times the crowds caused long delays. But FDoT spokesman Steve Olson says the first two weeks showed how much interest there is in SunRail. “The free service was a great sales pitch, the trains were really crowded, but it was almost like that Studio 54 syndrome: the more people who wanted to get on the train, the more people it drew,” says Olson. He says it’s likely crowds will ease off now that riders have to buy a ticket- and that should make it easier for commuters using SunRail along the 32 mile corridor from Sand Lake Road to Debary. He says the extra car is still an option on some trains if demand for the service remains high. Part of the reason for the free rides in the first two weeks was to allow time to make sure vending machines and online ticket sales were working. Olson says problems with the online ticket sales are now fixed. “The online issue there were some difficulties with people maybe getting locked out of the system as they tried to do some data entry, there was some time that had to pass before that cleared up and then folks could get back in, but as of Friday afternoon everything was taken care of, and word is it’s ready to go for Monday.” Starting today, a one way ticket on the train will cost up to $4. As of last week over 700 tickets had been sold through the vending machines, at highrises in downtown Orlando and online. The bulk of the sales to date though have been through companies- like Florida Hospital- making large purchases. More than 10,000 Institutional SunRail passes have been sold. |
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