SunRail gets more night trains

SunRail is set to expand service hours throughout the system, after a key vote by the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission on Oct. 23. More than a decade after its current schedule was set and six months after the most recent major update on the future of Central Florida’s commuter rail system, SunRail is on the verge of addressing one of the top complaints by riders and would-be riders: the need for more night trains. 

The most visible change for riders will happen for those hoping to visit DeLand for dinner or drinks, as Commissioner Andria Herr suggested. Currently the latest train to depart from the northernmost DeLand station leaves at 7:55 p.m. Now a new later train will pick up its final riders just before 10 p.m.

“It was a minimal change but it’s going to impact people I think very positively,” Seminole County Commissioner Amy Lockhart said. 

Lockhart, who also serves as the chairwoman of the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission Governing Board, mentioned the upcoming change, still not officially announced by the Florida Department of Transportation, during Tuesday’s Seminole County Commission meeting.

Scout interfaces with Sunrail  

The newly launched Scout commuter transit service in Seminole County could help SunRail see a boost in ridership also, with a $2 per trip fee for any riders who are traveling via Scout to a station to ride SunRail.

The service’s hours don’t line up with the proposed new later trains though. Currently Scout’s service hours during weekdays (SunRail doesn’t operate on the weekend except for special events) are 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Filling up empty trains

Florida Department of Transportation spokesman Tim Freed confirmed that the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission voted to implement a new expanded schedule that also includes the later trains. 

“It’s filling in a gap and making it easier to catch trains in the evening,” Freed said.

The change seemed to come from a simple enough issue: trains intentionally running empty on a final route at night leaving the DeLand station heading southbound through the entire system, destination: the Poinciana southern terminus, to be readied for the morning commute. 

“We had two deadhead trains at the end of the night that were coming back empty; there weren’t people on them,” Lockhart said. “They were just getting them back to where they needed to start the next morning. So with some tweaking of some times and some minor modifications…now there are some extended southbound trains from DeLand southbound going to 11 o’clock at night.”

The latest train, in a proposed new schedule, would leave DeLand at 9:56 p.m., stopping at every stop along the traditional southbound route, including Seminole County stops in Sanford, Lake Mary, Longwood and Altamonte Springs. 

Northbound trains ran later than southbound trains in the past, but with a two-and-a-half-hour gap between the penultimate 7:25 p.m. train and the final 9:55 p.m. train. Under the new schedule another train would fit in the middle of that gap. 

“It gives folks another option,” Freed said. 

Freed said that the FDOT will be making a full official announcement and start date for the new trains and schedules in the coming weeks.

Herr said she was excited to see the change. 

“So I can now go to the Elusive Grape in DeLand and come home,” Herr said. “That’s fantastic.”