UPDATED April 30, 2014 based on the schedule that will be used on May 1 when service beings.
As we get closer to the SunRail start date of May 1 we’ll be walking you through some of the basics of riding SunRail. Today we take a look at the SunRail schedule.
We told you that SunRail would be testing their schedules this week and now we have a better sense of what that schedule looks like. The Florida Department of Transportation published a preliminary schedule on their website this week.
While the schedule is still subject to change we wanted to answer some of the more frequently asked questions about the schedule.
How often will SunRail run?
We’ve been reporting that SunRail will run every 30 minutes during peak times (5:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.) and every two hours during non-peak times.
While that works as a quick way to explain when you examine the schedule you’ll notice that some of the non-peak trains in the afternoon will run every two-and-a-half hours.
How long will SunRail take to get me to work?
To get from SandLake to DeBary, the entire length of the current SunRail route will take just a little over an hour. From station to station by car that would normally take 33 minutes without any traffic.
A more realistic commute would be from Lake Mary to Downtown Lynx Central Station. That route by SunRail will take 35 minutes. That same route would take 21 minutes in traffic. By bus, you would be looking at over an hour easily.
A couple of notes: 1) That assumes no traffic 2)Yes, you still need to get to and from the station 3)SunRail provides free WiFi so you can put that 35 minutes to good use.
How late in the evening will the last SunRail train run?
This tends to be the most disappointing facts for most people.
The current schedule has the last southbound train leaving DeBary at 8:00 p.m. and making its way south and arriving at the Sand Lake Road station at 9:03 p.m.
We assume it will be that same train that will then go to the switching station and return to pick-up northbound passengers at Sand Lake Road at 9:15 p.m. That last northbound train will arrive in DeBary at 10:18 p.m.
This mean passengers who are working downtown and needing to go south will have their final train arrive at Lynx Central Station at 8:48 p.m. and passengers going north will have their last train downtown at 9:28 p.m.
Will SunRail run on the weekend?
Simply put, no. The agreement the cities and counties put together does not allow the Florida Department of Transportation to operate regular service on the weekend. However, it is possible for the train to run for special events.
You can view the current SunRail schedule at SunRail.com. For trip planning purposes you should always check the latest schedule posted on SunRail.com.
Originally published on March 11, 2014.
I need to know the schedule from Sanford to Poinciana
People are either whinging about the train being a boondoogle, or they’re whinging that the service is insufficient. No one’s celebrating the fact the thing got built after 10 years of political battles, and thanking Rep. John Mica for his tireless work on the floor of the House on both sides of the aisle to secure the federal funding. The operational schedule is constrained by the operational budget; if you folks want an expanded schedule, you need to vote for a dedicated, local funding source. Perhaps this is all part of the grand design: now that people can actually see the value of fixed-guideway mass transit, they’ll be more supportive of future initiatives to fund and expand Orlando’s mass transit infrastructure, which will most likely involve new taxes.
I agree not having service on the weekends is a mistake as this town does not run on a Mon-Fri, 9 to 5 schedule. I just hope the current schedule’s revenue supports the time and expense involved. I am willing to bet a weekend schedule will be in our near future if Sunrail doesn’t get the ridership they expected. It is a GREAT start for the city of Orlando, and much overdue. We can only move forward from here.
No one said its not important.
It is a failure when it does not serve the community that needs it… Hospital employees, hotel employees, anyone that does not work the traditional m-f 9-5 jobs (ish) are the people that need the rail more then the bankers downtown… And if you cannot realize that bringing business downtown is important to sunrail then you have a blind eye in economics and it is a waste of tax dollars….
Trust me I would love to see more service but I don’t want us to call something a failure because it doesn’t drive business downtown when that was never the goal. I think it would be unfair to call SunRail a failure if all that it does is accomplish the one mission they had from day one which was to alleviate peak traffic demand from I4. Can/should it be able to do more? Absolutely!
Yes, Bungalower, but Robert is correct in that no weekend or night time service is of little help in many people’s minds. Trying to do this “on the cheap” is going to be proven a huge mistake for many reasons…having to “share” a rail line with CSX is just one of them. Other critical issues include the inevitable explosion of car/train accidents, no perimeter fencing to keep pedestrians away from the trains, and the lack of awareness or interest in Volusia County.
When the “super I=4” project starts next year…I-4 will become virtually impassible…thus SunRail now.
The cities & counties want to see how much milk they can extract from their newest golden calf — public transport is NOT a revenue stream, it’s intended to support the employment centers, commerce & lastly, the social butterflies ~ if graveyard workers needed mass transit, it would run at night but the traffic snarls are mainly 6:30 – 9:30 AM & 3:30 -6:30 PM on I-4 ~ what about the backups on the toll roads at those hours?
And THIS is why we can’t have nice things. 🙁
WHY wouldn’t the cities and counties want SunRail to run on the weekends? That’s idiotic. If it’s going to help people get to work and this is a tourist and hospitality-heavy area people will be working all weekend. They’re also working much later than 10 PM, so the train and the buses should run until the early morning hours. If the hours were better there would also be people who would take SunRail to go out for fun– leave the car at home and drink whatever you want! SunRail would be busier on the weekends than on the weekdays!
But nope, instead we’ve got a useless SunRail that’s pretty much just there for show with limited hours. Thanks.
hope I am wrong but this has failure written all over it. If your drive time calculations are correct, and if you factor in the time it takes waiting for the train, it seems to take longer to get to work than driving. And using it at night or on weekends … oh well!
Yeah, & on the news last nite they said something about it running every 2 hours. . .? You miss one, you have to wait 2 hours. . .WHAT? Waste. . .
Put up a real schedule. What, people don’t need to get around on the weekends? Are you kidding me! You will never know the need you will fill if you can’t cover a twenty four seven test.
Like I said. Doomed to fail… If you ever lived in a city with a rail system the train should be available and easily used for all purposes… We were told commuter rail to ease traffic on I-4, not a Monday- Friday daytime schedule…. Not many people who need the train work that schedule… Think again!!
Are they setting this up to fail?
Will SunRail run on the weekend?
Simply put, no. The agreement the cities and counties put together does not allow the Florida Department of Transportation to operate regular service on the weekend. However, it is possible for the train to run for special events.
Robert, to be clear the goal of SunRail was never to bring business downtown in the evening or help the arena or arts center. It’s a commuter train. I like most of our readers would like to see public transportation options to get people into and around downtown.
Epic fail…. Sadly with this limited schedule sunrail will fail… It will not bring business downtown in the evenings and a will not help a with a The arena or arts center and their parking catastrophes.
From what I can gather the no weekend and late night service stems from the piggy backing of already existing rail lines. These are not dedicated purely for transportation of people. There has to be a time when the lines can be used for freight and other things. It is a smart way to get the initial ball rolling and practice sound fiscal policies. I would like to see street cars introduced on colonial and semoran that can link up to sun rail stations at some point.
It’s not downtown parties I’m concerned about but audiences for theater and music (the new Dr. Phillips performing arts center, Bob Carr, Mad Cow Theatre, Sak Comedy Lab, the Abbey, etc.), along with everything at the Amway Center. I can’t believe that planners haven’t taken those very large numbers of people into account.
Already did, no response.
With any luck they will have resolved the horn issues of the freight trains, otherwise downtown and Winter Park will exist in a cloud of train horn morning and evening.
No weekends is very unfortunate and definitely not using this mass transit system to its full capacity. Hopefully this will be changed as the sunrail comes into play. Sorry dtown party people
Correct, people who get off work late at night are left out of the equation.
I’m amazed that Mayor Dyer thinks we need to start thinking like New Yorkers ( meaning use public transportation) when this new option is so measly. I hope all of you will write Sunrail and voice your concerns. The email addresses are readily available on the Sunrail website. Writing the mayor can’t hurt, too!
Let them get the thing running before we uproot the plans — weekends will become a priority when the Tragic go to a playoff!
If I had to guess, I would venture to say that Orlando probably has one of the largest concentrations of ‘service industry’ employees around. It is really a shame that we don’t have public transportation system that is even remotely reflective of the needs of that demographic.
No weekends means I can never use it. Lovely.
Not running on weekends is a mistake.