Tampa Union Station is the second-busiest Amtrak station in Florida, welcoming almost 130,000 passengers last fiscal year.
Despite the growing ridership and recent investments from the city, state and Amtrak to update the historic station, it could miss out on expanded rail service, according to preliminary proposals from the Federal Railroad Administration.
The administration is studying priorities for restoring long-distance intercity rail passenger service and the potential for new Amtrak routes nationwide.
A proposed Chicago–Florida passenger rail route bypasses Tampa, instead servicing Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville, with stops in Georgia and Tennessee before reaching the Midwest.
Considering the Tampa Bay region’s long-standing connections to the Midwest, residents are sounding their frustration and urging others to speak up.
“The Federal Railroad Administration should be making the most out of these fresh investments in rail infrastructure in Tampa, not bypassing them,” said Brandie Miklus, president of the Friends of Tampa Union Station.
The nonprofit, which advocates for the station’s preservation, sent a letter to the federal government last week urging for an amended proposal to include Tampa.
In an email, a spokesperson for the railroad administration stressed the study, a task set by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021, is a “very early step in a comprehensive process to identify the actions needed to enhance long-distance service.”
The study would not “prevent a new or restored long-distance route from serving Tampa in the future,” the spokesperson wrote. It is “too early to definitively say where future Amtrak stations might exactly be located.”
A proposed preferred route between Dallas-Fort Worth and Florida included in the same study also bypasses Tampa, but includes five other Florida stops: Pensacola, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Daytona Beach and Miami.
Amtrak operates 15 long-distance routes, ranging from approximately 760 to 2,500 miles. Three of those routes serve Florida.
Tampa Union Station sees two Amtrak trains per day: one travels north to New York and the other south to Miami.
Despite a population boom in recent years, public transportation remains sparse across the Tampa Bay region.
That makes the potential bypassing of Tampa Union on future Amtrak expansion all the more frustrating, said St. Petersburg resident and frequent rail traveler Mark Ferrulo.
“To miss an opportunity to better connect our metropolis with the Midwest would be a huge mistake,” said Ferrulo, executive director of political advocacy group Progress Florida. “It is completely nonsensical.”
Public comments are open until March 8 and can be sent to the administration via email: [email protected].
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