Getting around Orlando (and ultimately on to Disney World) may be easier soon.
©SunRail
With so many ways than ever before to get to Orlando by planes, trains, and automobiles, it’s no surprise to hear that Orlando may be interested in expanding these options even further. We’ve already seen some wild proposals that would fund programs built to transport people by hovercraft to Orlando International Airport, but this latest funding looks to expand on an existing transport option and make it even more accessible to both Orange County residents and travelers.
If you’ve visited Orlando over the last decade you may be familiar with the SunRail train. This train connects parts of Central Florida over multiple counties within the state. It’s a popular form of transportation around Central Florida that now runs 61 miles north and south through Volusia, Seminole, Orange and Osceola counties in addition to stop at the airport. The SunRail estimates they handle more than 60 million passengers a year. Now, it seems that Orange County may have interests in expanding its use to include taking tourists to popular destinations like Disney World.
Crowds at Magic Kingdom
In fact, they’ve actually put their money where their mouth is and pledged their share of a whopping $6 million dollar study to gauge feasibility. So far, Orange County is ready to invest $500,000 into this expansion study that would take aim to look at the “feasibility of building a SunRail extension from Orlando’s airport to the Orange County Convention Center and the theme parks” per the Orlando Sentinel.
The hefty contribution was backed by a unanimous vote, however, Orange County is just one public agent added to the pieces that will make up the entire puzzle to fund this project in its entirety. Other counties such as Seminole and Osceola Counties have also put up equal bids for funding, as well as the City of Orlando and The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
©Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board Livestream
However, it wasn’t passed without raising some concerns. During Tuesday’s vote, county commissioner Kelly Semrad made statements that she would like to see more financial contributions from businesses that would benefit from the rail service. Assuming more businesses back the study and potentially the full project, this would keep from the funding for the expansion falling into the laps of the taxpayers and more directly dispersed among the businesses that would stand to make profits from potential travelers along the proposed route.
©SunRail
During the study, known as a project development and environmental study (PD&E), data would be collected that examines projected ridership, the system’s maintenance, operational costs, environmental impacts, station locations, and track alignments. The Florida Department of Transportation would be trusted to oversee the study, and have already agreed to provide $2 million in funding (so long as governments and other entities along the route are able to commit to fulfilling the remaining $4 million).
©Orlando Sentinel
To further strengthen the argument for the study, it’s estimated that the proposed rail expansion (named the Sunshine Corridor) would open commuter train routes to more than 100,000 people who work around the airport and theme parks. Should the study gain full funding, it would take an estimated 2 years to complete. The study would have to be completed before moving on to potentially get federal and state government funding for the project.
©SunRail
When a proposal to expand SunRail’s routes was brought up last year, it toted a pretty penny. At the time, the estimated cost hovered around $4 billion dollars and likely will be higher now that more time has passed and costs have risen. As of now there’s still funding left to be anted up by other agencies before the study can move on to its next steps for approval, however, with such large government agencies already backing the proposal, it may happen sooner than later.
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Let keep the information right, don’t lump groups together. Disney Company, Walt Disney World itself, has not committed to any thing. They dropped the train along time ago when Universal and the Convention Center made offer to Brightline to drop the Disney stop on the way to Tampa, and run the line up International Drive. Then Sunrail jumped in and said they would partner with Brighline. So Disney left taking with land and a fully funded terminal at Disney Springs. The stop shown on you map is not that station, the map is decieving. The desanto board know as cftod is not a part of Disney. They tax Disney and then use that money where they want. Disney Company or WDW has nothing to do with cftod unlike Universal over site group run by only Universal.
Any train to or from the airport can expect passengers dragging loads of bulky, heavy, pieces of luggage. It’s hard to image how that would work on a train car.