FL: How much would it cost to run SunRail on the weekends?

Since SunRail first rolled down the tracks just over a decade ago as a weekday commuter train, passengers have grumbled about why it doesn’t run more frequently, isn’t available on the weekends and can’t be ridden to the Orlando International Airport, despite the high demand for such services.

On Thursday, the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission received an answer on one of those wishlist items: an eye-popping staff report that showed running SunRail trains on Saturdays and Sundays would cost the Central Florida region nearly $26.3 million more annually in operating costs.

On top of that, SunRail would need to spend an estimated $61.8 million to purchase three additional locomotives and cab cars for the weekends, according to the study.

“We have to educate residents that if you want to have nice things, you have to pay for them,” said Luis Nieves-Ruiz, chair of SunRail’s customer advisory committee. “It’s difficult, but that’s the reality.”

Charles Heffinger, SunRail’s chief operating officer, estimated that SunRail service would generate between 4,600 and 9,500 trips. The average daily ridership — or trips — from April through June was 5,184, a 13% jump from a year ago.

But despite that estimate, Commission board members still wanted to know the cost-to-benefit relationship of spending the money to expand to weekends — and where the money would come from.

“Answering that is intertwined with knowing: How many cars do we take off the roads? How many people are we helping to move throughout the region, and perhaps improve traffic congestion?” said board member and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings.

Any expansion of Sunrail service will greatly boost operating costs. Seminole Commissioner Amy Lockhart, the board’s chair, noted that for the Sunshine Corridor to become a reality — a proposed SunRail extension from the airport to the Orange County Convention Center and the theme park district —  “we would have to be running [SunRail] seven days a week, essentially almost 24 hours a day.”

SunRail trains currently run along a 61-mile route Monday through Friday between Poinciana in Osceola County and DeLand in Volusia County, traveling through downtown Orlando and Orange and Seminole counties. The first train picks up passengers as early as 5:06 a.m. and the last train ends service at about 9:40 p.m. The trains run as often as every 30 minutes during peak times.

Each government along the route pitches in for SunRail’s operational costs based on passenger trips and length of track in each jurisdiction. This fiscal year, for example, Volusia gives $5.4 million; Seminole, $12.1 million; Osceola, $12.2 million; Orange, $15.3 million; and Orlando $20.2 million.

SunRail occasionally offers weekend service during special events, but those are generally paid by private entities.

For example, on July 4 SunRail trains shuttled nearly 5,000 passengers to downtown Orlando for the FIFA Club World Cup match at Camping World Stadium and the Fireworks at the Fountain show at Lake Eola Park. That special service was sponsored by the Orlando Downtown Development Board.

Orlando’s drone show during the Downtown for the Holidays last December attracted 6,300 SunRail passenger trips.

A cheaper option of running the trains on Saturdays but not Sundays would cost an estimated $22.7 million annually, saving nearly $3.6 million in operational expenses from a full weekend service.

Additional employees would have to be hired to work on the weekends, regardless if the service is offered on Saturday or for the full weekend, which why it would cost only an additional $3.6 million adding Sunday service. Also, the Sunday service would likely have more limited service because of fewer events than on a Saturday.

SunRail would still need three additional locomotives to run trains every weekend, however. That would enable SunRail to switch out the new locomotives with its current ones for routine maintenance and repair service to comply with federal transit regulations, according to the staff report.

Otherwise, the vehicles would not be consistently available for weekday service, Heffinger said.

Instead of purchasing new locomotives at $15 million each, SunRail could lease them for about $3 million a year. The cab cars, passenger cars with controls to pull the train from the opposite end of the locomotive, would be purchased at $5.6 million each, according to the report.

“How would you propose that we pay for it?” Demings asked SunRail staff.

John Tyler, district secretary of Florida Department of Transportation, which operates SunRail, said “there are multiple funding options” for the purchase of the locomotives and cars.

“But the operational costs would largely be borne by the local communities, with some additional federal support,” he said.

Board member and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said a sales tax referendum “is a possibility….I’m just throwing that out there.”

Lockhart said the cost for the weekend service would not be considered so high when divided among the five local governments and supplemented with contributions from private organizations.

Revenue from ticket sales currently does not even meet the cost to sell the fares, according to the staff. Tickets range from $2 to $5 depending on the distance traveled. But that’s a fraction of the costs for ticket machines, employees who help passengers purchase tickets and security personnel to collect the fares.

“Sometimes we are (breaking even). But the majority of times, we are not,” Heffinger said. However, he was not able to provide the board with detailed ticket revenue and expenses.

Board members and staff agreed to delve into more details of weekend service at a workshop in the coming weeks.

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