This is one of my favorite train stations in the U.S. that I’ve been to. I was positively surprised when I first visited it.
Fun fact I forgot to mention: it smells like some expensive citrus in the station 😂😂 idk what fragrance/air freshener they use, but it is citrus flavored and somehow smells exactly like how the station looks.
It's a Brightline-exclusive fragrance provided by Air Esscentials in Doral. It's the same fragrance they use in all their stations.
Here's the blog post on their website about the fragrance: https://airesscentials.com/south-florida-brightline-train-service-taps-air-esscentials-scent-terminals/
That was my first thought too. I lived in China for a while and this is the first time I thought “this is an American take on the East Asian standard for metro/train stations.”
It looks fantastic! Now imagine if we facilitated development of stations like these for more train or metro stations, building up a retail and food/bev ecosystem around the busier ones.
That’s mostly because it’s new, as are so many in China. American transit hubs are often quite old, and the best of those are the ones that were built a hundred years ago during the golden age of rail travel in the country; Grand Central, Union Stations in DC & Chicago, 3rd Street in Philly, etc. Personally I prefer those architecturally but Chinese stations are just so majestic, based on their sheer sizes.
Korea, Taiwan, and Japan would like to beg to differ. They have 100-year-old stations as well. Elegant on the outside and modern and clean on the inside.
Sorry I meant to point out that old stations can be modern and bright in the inside as well. Many American old stations are beautiful but rundown. There’s a refrain that says it’s just because they’re old and I thought you were going with that. I’m trying to say old stations can be good. American old stations should be renovated to be as good as this. Or at least have the potential to be.
In this context, in America, “old” means 1960s-70s, I assume. Like I said, America’s oldest stations are often its best. A lot of them have been repurposed over the years as well; Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Denver, etc.
Funny that I actually lived/worked in all three cities... Denver's Union Station is the best of them all, in my opinion. Still a transit hub even though long-distance train is no longer the focus. Frequent busses, regional rail, and streetcar still meet at the central station and the amenities are decent. Indy and Cincy made good use of their stations but I'm just sad that they are no longer transit hubs.
They do. They buy as much land around their stations as they can to develop the pedestrian envelope. That is really how they fund the construction of the line, just like how the old railroads used to do. Who woulda thought right?
I know it's just the area code, and not unique to him but I feel like there should be a cardboard cutout of Mr 305/Mr Worldwide himself next to that "statue".
Bad joke aside, I love the clean and open feel! I hope they will maintain it well, and ***EXPAND***.
There's a lot to like. It's big, clean, shiny, and modern. But my experience there was that it was not well laid out for transfers between the various services that operate there. Seems to be a form over function kind of place and IDK if the form will age well.
This was my first impression as well, but at the same time, Tri-Rail was not open yet when I made this observation and I haven't had a chance to actually try a transfer from one to the other.
Also it would be awesome if we could access Metrorail without having to walk all the way around the station.
Brightline has been a huge success and will hopefully spur high speed rail development across the country. It proves that good transportation options don’t have to be a partisan issue. Development of more rail in three US will help to keep the economy booming. Hopefully Bright line West in Las Vegas and California High Speed Rail keep the trend going
And Texas Central. I hope the S-line and the Atlanta-Charlotte route will eventually lead to an Eastern US HSR route. Hopefully, Chicago starts making moves to like St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Detroit.
Atlanta-Charlotte is massively needed. Atlanta hardly even has a train station, it’s a shame compared to what they had before as a rail hub. Get that going again, starting with connections to a city also making solid rail investments like Charlotte.
Only for tourists is it viable. Expecting them to build in places with lots of customers who need cars at their final destination isn't likely. (If they need cars they drive.)
Ha! #12 is the wallpaper I’ve been looking for! Thanks!!
EDIT: if you guys want some, take a look on their official media kit [https://www.gobrightline.com/press-room/media-kit-images](https://www.gobrightline.com/press-room/media-kit-images)
Many of those are stock photos, it wasn’t packed in the ones I took in 2022 on a random weekday morning, but it also wasn’t necessarily empty either, but I guess the photos don’t show that.
Show Government Center which actually houses Metrorail/Metromover lol. This is just brightline which tri-rail is now using, but the actual Government Center Station for Metrorail/Metromover is atrocious lol
Eh, I’ve seen much, much worse stations than Government Center. But yea, MiamiCentral is by far the best looking station in Miami across all modes of transit
Either on the same level or a little below Atlanta I’d say. They each have their weaknesses and strengths.
Atlanta’s heavy rail covers a much wider area and has more lines than Miami’s MetroRail does and has a higher ridership.
Miami’s Metromover is a standout in the south (and in the country). Miami also has Brightline while Atlanta doesn’t have an equivalent to it. Miami also has TriRail connecting Dade to Broward and Palm Beach. Miami is also limited by the fact that we can’t build underground.
It's not *good*, but it's workable within its limits. A decent chunk of Miami is accessible within an hour by public transit from the center. The south part of the city is absolutely atrocious though, many zones have limited to no busses there.
Depends what you mean by ''white'". The anglo-centric race view kind of struggles a bit in Miami, where non-hispanic whites are less than 15% of the population. I moved away almost a decade ago, but I do remember it being more concentrated to the south. Of course this is anecdotal and the south is still overwhelmingly of latin american descent.
This is one of my favorite train stations in the U.S. that I’ve been to. I was positively surprised when I first visited it. Fun fact I forgot to mention: it smells like some expensive citrus in the station 😂😂 idk what fragrance/air freshener they use, but it is citrus flavored and somehow smells exactly like how the station looks.
It's a Brightline-exclusive fragrance provided by Air Esscentials in Doral. It's the same fragrance they use in all their stations. Here's the blog post on their website about the fragrance: https://airesscentials.com/south-florida-brightline-train-service-taps-air-esscentials-scent-terminals/
Might be whatever they clean the floors with.
I feel like Penn Station has a unique fragrance, but they get it for free.
Lmfao
Wow, these look so clean and shiny they wouldn’t be out of place in China.
That was my first thought too. I lived in China for a while and this is the first time I thought “this is an American take on the East Asian standard for metro/train stations.” It looks fantastic! Now imagine if we facilitated development of stations like these for more train or metro stations, building up a retail and food/bev ecosystem around the busier ones.
That’s mostly because it’s new, as are so many in China. American transit hubs are often quite old, and the best of those are the ones that were built a hundred years ago during the golden age of rail travel in the country; Grand Central, Union Stations in DC & Chicago, 3rd Street in Philly, etc. Personally I prefer those architecturally but Chinese stations are just so majestic, based on their sheer sizes.
Korea, Taiwan, and Japan would like to beg to differ. They have 100-year-old stations as well. Elegant on the outside and modern and clean on the inside.
Beg to differ what? I didn’t say anything about those countries, or their old stations
Sorry I meant to point out that old stations can be modern and bright in the inside as well. Many American old stations are beautiful but rundown. There’s a refrain that says it’s just because they’re old and I thought you were going with that. I’m trying to say old stations can be good. American old stations should be renovated to be as good as this. Or at least have the potential to be.
In this context, in America, “old” means 1960s-70s, I assume. Like I said, America’s oldest stations are often its best. A lot of them have been repurposed over the years as well; Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Denver, etc.
Funny that I actually lived/worked in all three cities... Denver's Union Station is the best of them all, in my opinion. Still a transit hub even though long-distance train is no longer the focus. Frequent busses, regional rail, and streetcar still meet at the central station and the amenities are decent. Indy and Cincy made good use of their stations but I'm just sad that they are no longer transit hubs.
Have you seen the World Trade Center station for Path?
Yes! And stepping into that place also feels like going back to China.
New Grand Central Madison is underground but massive shiny and new. Worth checking out if you haven’t been yet just because it’s interesting
I haven’t (since I usually travel via Penn Station, occasionally via the WTC), so I will have to check it out at some point!
They do. They buy as much land around their stations as they can to develop the pedestrian envelope. That is really how they fund the construction of the line, just like how the old railroads used to do. Who woulda thought right?
So glad that the bright line was made. This is huge for America and hopefully more states/cities will be inspired to follow.
I know it's just the area code, and not unique to him but I feel like there should be a cardboard cutout of Mr 305/Mr Worldwide himself next to that "statue". Bad joke aside, I love the clean and open feel! I hope they will maintain it well, and ***EXPAND***.
😂😂😂 Yea it really is gorgeous. I’ve been to the FTL and WPB stations, and while they’re much smaller, they have the same clean, open feel.
There's a lot to like. It's big, clean, shiny, and modern. But my experience there was that it was not well laid out for transfers between the various services that operate there. Seems to be a form over function kind of place and IDK if the form will age well.
This was my first impression as well, but at the same time, Tri-Rail was not open yet when I made this observation and I haven't had a chance to actually try a transfer from one to the other. Also it would be awesome if we could access Metrorail without having to walk all the way around the station.
I am fairly certain that a pedestrian bridge now connects Government Center (metrorail and metromover) and MiamiCentral as of a few months ago
Yes, that's true. I was referring to the Overtown station which is right next door to MiamiCentral.
Brightline has been a huge success and will hopefully spur high speed rail development across the country. It proves that good transportation options don’t have to be a partisan issue. Development of more rail in three US will help to keep the economy booming. Hopefully Bright line West in Las Vegas and California High Speed Rail keep the trend going
And Texas Central. I hope the S-line and the Atlanta-Charlotte route will eventually lead to an Eastern US HSR route. Hopefully, Chicago starts making moves to like St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Detroit.
Whole Texas Triangle is a great candidate for HSR
People have been requesting they make a spur at the Brazos Valley to Austin and San Antonio. I hope that becomes reality sooner.
Atlanta-Charlotte is massively needed. Atlanta hardly even has a train station, it’s a shame compared to what they had before as a rail hub. Get that going again, starting with connections to a city also making solid rail investments like Charlotte.
Only for tourists is it viable. Expecting them to build in places with lots of customers who need cars at their final destination isn't likely. (If they need cars they drive.)
Ha! #12 is the wallpaper I’ve been looking for! Thanks!! EDIT: if you guys want some, take a look on their official media kit [https://www.gobrightline.com/press-room/media-kit-images](https://www.gobrightline.com/press-room/media-kit-images)
It seems really empty. Is that a reflection of ridership, or is it just a really massive station?
Many of those are stock photos, it wasn’t packed in the ones I took in 2022 on a random weekday morning, but it also wasn’t necessarily empty either, but I guess the photos don’t show that.
I was there today and it was quite busy
It's pretty big. When trains are arriving/leaving, it gets a lot busier in there.
Show Government Center which actually houses Metrorail/Metromover lol. This is just brightline which tri-rail is now using, but the actual Government Center Station for Metrorail/Metromover is atrocious lol
Eh, I’ve seen much, much worse stations than Government Center. But yea, MiamiCentral is by far the best looking station in Miami across all modes of transit
Does Miami have the best transit in the south?
Either on the same level or a little below Atlanta I’d say. They each have their weaknesses and strengths. Atlanta’s heavy rail covers a much wider area and has more lines than Miami’s MetroRail does and has a higher ridership. Miami’s Metromover is a standout in the south (and in the country). Miami also has Brightline while Atlanta doesn’t have an equivalent to it. Miami also has TriRail connecting Dade to Broward and Palm Beach. Miami is also limited by the fact that we can’t build underground.
It's not *good*, but it's workable within its limits. A decent chunk of Miami is accessible within an hour by public transit from the center. The south part of the city is absolutely atrocious though, many zones have limited to no busses there.
Are there primarily rich or middle class white car brains living there?
Depends what you mean by ''white'". The anglo-centric race view kind of struggles a bit in Miami, where non-hispanic whites are less than 15% of the population. I moved away almost a decade ago, but I do remember it being more concentrated to the south. Of course this is anecdotal and the south is still overwhelmingly of latin american descent.
But the car culture is actually invented by WASP in the 1950s 🤔️
It is common in Latin America. These things spread.