The Florida Department of Transportation will be handing over the financial responsibility of running SunRail to Orlando and the counties it serves by December 31, 2024.
SunRail currently connects DeBary in Volusia County to Poinciana in Osceola County with a 49-mile route that operates from Monday to Friday, via 16 stations. Future plans include extending east to the Orlando International Airport and a DeLand station is expected to open this summer.
Transitioning the financial burden of operating SunRail has been the plan since its conception, with each government serviced by the train to pay a share based on the number of stations and how many passengers are boarding and leaving them, a plan that leaves Orlando paying for about a third of the costs.
The passenger rail system launched in May 2014 and at the time, operation costs were estimated to be around $8 million a year. Since the launch, those costs have risen dramatically. The 2022-23 fiscal year saw the service bring in roughly $40.8 million with a cost of roughly $76 million.
LYNX is scheduled to take control of SunRail operations by the end of 2027, under the auspices of the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission – formed by Volusia, Seminole, Orange, and Osceola counties and the City of Orlando. FDOT will continue to operate SunRail until that time.
