Central Florida's SunRail at a junction: Are its benefits worth the cost of expansion?
By Joe Byrnes
April 29, 2025 at 6:00 AM EDT
As Central Florida’s commuter rail turns 11, it’s begun to study a major expansion costing billions of dollars.
SunRail began operation in May 2014. In August of last year, with the opening of a station in DeLand, the Florida Department of Transportation completed its full 61 miles, running north and south through Orlando.
Now FDOT is in the process of handing ownership and funding responsibilities over to local governments. At the same time, they’re exploring a possible expansion called the Sunshine Corridor.
For some, questions remain about whether that expansion is worth the cost.
A commuter's perspective
Paul Satchfield stood on the DeBary station platform shortly before sunrise on Monday in April. He was waiting to take the 6:30 train for an hour-and-20-minute ride to his job in Kissimmee.
A few other passengers wandered in, some pushing bicycles, some chatting with fellow travelers and security guards.
Paul Satchfield usually cracks open his laptop and prepares to work soon after boarding the SunRail train in DeBary. (5641x3520, AR: 1.6025568181818182)
"This is just such a less stressful way to get to work, more than anything," Satchfield said. "It takes you a little bit longer, but it’s worth it stress-wise, money-wise."
His monthly SunRail pass -- at $140 -- saves him a lot of money. Satchfield estimated he'd spend nearly that much -- about $120 on gas and tolls -- in just one week if he drove instead.
As the SunRail train nears downtown Orlando, passengers can see the traffic on Interstate 4. (5241x2972, AR: 1.7634589502018843)
He climbed aboard a double-decker train car -- one of two being pulled by the engine. At this point, the upper level with its tables on either side is mostly empty.
"You grab a table, hook onto the Wi-Fi, which is usually pretty reliable on the train, and just start working," Satchfield said. "And it's pretty convenient."
He often looks out at the traffic on Interstate 4, or as he calls it, "the Thunderdome."
"And you see the cars stopped, and traffic stop and go, and you're just going right along, heading towards your destination," he said. "It's, you know, it's a relief."
So what would Satchfield say if he could speak to those motorists stuck in traffic?
"I'd say, 'If you can, get a job that’s close to a train station,'" he replied. And he chuckled.
A competition for commuters
Therein lies one of the challenges for SunRail. Because it’s built on an old CSX freight corridor, it doesn’t necessarily go where the people live or where they work.
SunRail uses partnerships with LYNX and other transit services to address those connectivity issues as it competes for riders against Central Florida’s overcrowded highways.
So far it’s not winning that competition.
Ridership peaked in 2019, with nearly 1.6 million passenger trips, and then plummeted during the pandemic. It’s still low, but it’s increasing.
The number of trips rose by 12% to 1.2 million last year. In March, SunRail recorded an average of 5,982 trips on the days it ran.
Satchfield has seen it get better during his two years riding the train, he said. "Now, each little pod has got one if not two people in it. So the ridership is increasing."
Ridership is light at the Meadow Woods station on a Monday morning. (828x913, AR: 0.9069003285870756)
University of Central Florida professor Chia-Yuan Yu said the low ridership is partly tied to structural limitations, like its limited hours of operation, the lack of weekend service and the placement of its stations.
All those factors reduce its convenience and competitiveness compared to driving.
Yu said potential riders weigh their options, looking at things like the cost and availability of parking and the ease of getting to and from the station.
But he said SunRail does have a winning argument: Gridlock.
"My understanding, from my research point of view, is we need SunRail badly," Yu said. "People will consider public transportation when they stop in the traffic for a long time."
If there’s no congestion and they have a car, they’ll choose the door-to-door convenience of driving. Yu says that’s why investment in I-4's express lanes actually undercut commuter rail.
"[W]e cannot make two options better at the same time," he said. "We enhance the quality of I-4 and we want to attract people to take the SunRail. It's very, very difficult."
The more riders SunRail has, the more cost effective it is, as measured by the operating expense for every mile a passenger travels. In 2023, SunRail came in at $3.93 per passenger mile, according to its most recent agency profile with the Federal Transit Administration. That’s 236% higher than the national average for commuter rail.
Those who ride it, 'love it'
Seminole County Commissioner Amy Lockhart rides the train and is a convert to SunRail. Beyond costly road construction, she said it’s another “tool in the toolbox” to serve the region’s growing population.
"We're kind of adolescents still in this transportation game and we're growing up," he said. "And this is a part of that."
Seminole County Commissioner Amy Lockhart chairs the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission. (4763x3402, AR: 1.4000587889476779)
She chairs the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission, which represents Orlando and four counties: Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia. CFCRC is taking over SunRail from FDOT and has begun a three-year transition period.
Next fiscal year, taxpayers in those counties will contribute about $63.5 million dollars, more than half of SunRail’s overall budget of about $110 million.
Passenger fares will cover 2% of the overall budget.
"The feedback that I'm getting from people who use the train is that they love it and they want to use it more," Lockhart said. "Are there people out there who feel like it's a waste of money? Absolutely."
So she wants more people to experience SunRail.
Extending the hours and adding weekend service will help. Doing so would also come at a significant cost.
"It's the chicken or the egg, right? Which comes first," Lockhart said. "[I]t's a lot easier to have people get excited about something when you first give them a taste of what it could be."
But Lockhart said the biggest boost for ridership will come with the Sunshine Corridor.
The Sunshine Corridor
Over the next decade or so, it would extend new lines, connecting workers and tourists to the Orlando International Airport, Orange County Convention Center, International Drive and, possibly, the Disney Springs area. It would also get Brightline going on its connection to Tampa.
An early estimate of the cost -- for a full build-out -- exceeds $4 billion.
Orange County chief transportation advisory manager Renzo Nastasi told the County Commission last month that, generally speaking, the funding split for a project of this kind is 25% local, 25% state and 50% federal.
He said construction would almost certainly happen in phases, starting with a connection from the current SunRail line to the airport.
A map showing the proposed Sunshine Corridor. (1054x631, AR: 1.670364500792393)
A two-year, $6 million Project Development and Environment Study will give planners a better idea just how many billions of dollars it would take.
Orange County Commissioner Myra Uribe said only then can they talk about whether it's possible and whether it's worth it.
"We're all looking at every kind of way that we can alleviate traffic congestion, what the future of transportation looks like," she said. "But what we don't talk about enough is that cost ... and who will be responsible for paying it."
In 2022, Orange County voters rejected a one-cent sales tax for transportation, which could have helped fund the expansion.
Ridership numbers are "very dismal," Uribe said. "I mean, we’re talking less than one tenth of one percent of our population actually uses SunRail."
The Sunshine Corridor could dramatically change the ridership picture. An FDOT study projects the complete expansion would draw 9.4 million trips a year by 2040.
Yu, UCF expert in urban regional planning, said it would connect high-traffic destinations.
"And this linking," he added, "can significantly improve access and also reduce the traffic congestion and also support the regional job market." He said it makes good sense from a mobility and an economic standpoint.
Central Floridians will have to decide if those benefits are worth the cost.
Now FDOT is in the process of handing ownership and funding responsibilities over to local governments. At the same time, they’re exploring a possible expansion called the Sunshine Corridor.
For some, questions remain about whether that expansion is worth the cost.
A commuter's perspective
Paul Satchfield stood on the DeBary station platform shortly before sunrise on Monday in April. He was waiting to take the 6:30 train for an hour-and-20-minute ride to his job in Kissimmee.
A few other passengers wandered in, some pushing bicycles, some chatting with fellow travelers and security guards.
Paul Satchfield usually cracks open his laptop and prepares to work soon after boarding the SunRail train in DeBary. (5641x3520, AR: 1.6025568181818182)
"This is just such a less stressful way to get to work, more than anything," Satchfield said. "It takes you a little bit longer, but it’s worth it stress-wise, money-wise."
His monthly SunRail pass -- at $140 -- saves him a lot of money. Satchfield estimated he'd spend nearly that much -- about $120 on gas and tolls -- in just one week if he drove instead.
As the SunRail train nears downtown Orlando, passengers can see the traffic on Interstate 4. (5241x2972, AR: 1.7634589502018843)
He climbed aboard a double-decker train car -- one of two being pulled by the engine. At this point, the upper level with its tables on either side is mostly empty.
"You grab a table, hook onto the Wi-Fi, which is usually pretty reliable on the train, and just start working," Satchfield said. "And it's pretty convenient."
He often looks out at the traffic on Interstate 4, or as he calls it, "the Thunderdome."
"And you see the cars stopped, and traffic stop and go, and you're just going right along, heading towards your destination," he said. "It's, you know, it's a relief."
So what would Satchfield say if he could speak to those motorists stuck in traffic?
"I'd say, 'If you can, get a job that’s close to a train station,'" he replied. And he chuckled.
A competition for commuters
Therein lies one of the challenges for SunRail. Because it’s built on an old CSX freight corridor, it doesn’t necessarily go where the people live or where they work.
SunRail uses partnerships with LYNX and other transit services to address those connectivity issues as it competes for riders against Central Florida’s overcrowded highways.
So far it’s not winning that competition.
Ridership peaked in 2019, with nearly 1.6 million passenger trips, and then plummeted during the pandemic. It’s still low, but it’s increasing.
The number of trips rose by 12% to 1.2 million last year. In March, SunRail recorded an average of 5,982 trips on the days it ran.
Satchfield has seen it get better during his two years riding the train, he said. "Now, each little pod has got one if not two people in it. So the ridership is increasing."
Ridership is light at the Meadow Woods station on a Monday morning. (828x913, AR: 0.9069003285870756)
University of Central Florida professor Chia-Yuan Yu said the low ridership is partly tied to structural limitations, like its limited hours of operation, the lack of weekend service and the placement of its stations.
All those factors reduce its convenience and competitiveness compared to driving.
Yu said potential riders weigh their options, looking at things like the cost and availability of parking and the ease of getting to and from the station.
But he said SunRail does have a winning argument: Gridlock.
"My understanding, from my research point of view, is we need SunRail badly," Yu said. "People will consider public transportation when they stop in the traffic for a long time."
If there’s no congestion and they have a car, they’ll choose the door-to-door convenience of driving. Yu says that’s why investment in I-4's express lanes actually undercut commuter rail.
"[W]e cannot make two options better at the same time," he said. "We enhance the quality of I-4 and we want to attract people to take the SunRail. It's very, very difficult."
The more riders SunRail has, the more cost effective it is, as measured by the operating expense for every mile a passenger travels. In 2023, SunRail came in at $3.93 per passenger mile, according to its most recent agency profile with the Federal Transit Administration. That’s 236% higher than the national average for commuter rail.
Those who ride it, 'love it'
Seminole County Commissioner Amy Lockhart rides the train and is a convert to SunRail. Beyond costly road construction, she said it’s another “tool in the toolbox” to serve the region’s growing population.
"We're kind of adolescents still in this transportation game and we're growing up," he said. "And this is a part of that."
Seminole County Commissioner Amy Lockhart chairs the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission. (4763x3402, AR: 1.4000587889476779)
She chairs the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission, which represents Orlando and four counties: Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia. CFCRC is taking over SunRail from FDOT and has begun a three-year transition period.
Next fiscal year, taxpayers in those counties will contribute about $63.5 million dollars, more than half of SunRail’s overall budget of about $110 million.
Passenger fares will cover 2% of the overall budget.
"The feedback that I'm getting from people who use the train is that they love it and they want to use it more," Lockhart said. "Are there people out there who feel like it's a waste of money? Absolutely."
So she wants more people to experience SunRail.
Extending the hours and adding weekend service will help. Doing so would also come at a significant cost.
"It's the chicken or the egg, right? Which comes first," Lockhart said. "[I]t's a lot easier to have people get excited about something when you first give them a taste of what it could be."
But Lockhart said the biggest boost for ridership will come with the Sunshine Corridor.
The Sunshine Corridor
Over the next decade or so, it would extend new lines, connecting workers and tourists to the Orlando International Airport, Orange County Convention Center, International Drive and, possibly, the Disney Springs area. It would also get Brightline going on its connection to Tampa.
An early estimate of the cost -- for a full build-out -- exceeds $4 billion.
Orange County chief transportation advisory manager Renzo Nastasi told the County Commission last month that, generally speaking, the funding split for a project of this kind is 25% local, 25% state and 50% federal.
He said construction would almost certainly happen in phases, starting with a connection from the current SunRail line to the airport.
A map showing the proposed Sunshine Corridor. (1054x631, AR: 1.670364500792393)
A two-year, $6 million Project Development and Environment Study will give planners a better idea just how many billions of dollars it would take.
Orange County Commissioner Myra Uribe said only then can they talk about whether it's possible and whether it's worth it.
"We're all looking at every kind of way that we can alleviate traffic congestion, what the future of transportation looks like," she said. "But what we don't talk about enough is that cost ... and who will be responsible for paying it."
In 2022, Orange County voters rejected a one-cent sales tax for transportation, which could have helped fund the expansion.
Ridership numbers are "very dismal," Uribe said. "I mean, we’re talking less than one tenth of one percent of our population actually uses SunRail."
The Sunshine Corridor could dramatically change the ridership picture. An FDOT study projects the complete expansion would draw 9.4 million trips a year by 2040.
Yu, UCF expert in urban regional planning, said it would connect high-traffic destinations.
"And this linking," he added, "can significantly improve access and also reduce the traffic congestion and also support the regional job market." He said it makes good sense from a mobility and an economic standpoint.
Central Floridians will have to decide if those benefits are worth the cost.