On October 8th, SunRail announced that a Saturday service would begin next week during Come Out With Pride Orlando. Thousands of people were expected to attend the festivities downtown, and the previous week-day only schedule was unfit to handle the traffic.
David Porter, from a local blog, said he received a letter from Mayor Buddy Dyer declaring that SunRail will run every Saturday from October through January. At a press conference that following Thursday, Dyer said the project would run for several months and added that the Saturday service will be coordinated to offer transportation for huge events, such as basketball games or upcoming concerts. He stressed there will be flexibility on schedule times depending on the event. In response to low weekly rider figures, SunRail transportation officials have created a “Try The Train” campaign.
If you ask any of the commission members or sponsors what the number one difficulty with SunRail is, they’ll tell you it’s about increasing services.
Now that the train operates on Saturdays, more people will be able to utilize SunRail and community transportation will improve for the better. The head of SunRail definitely knew that people wanted more SunRail. There was even a petition for SunRail to open up on Saturdays, and now they have their wishes granted.
Sponsors such as the Orlando Magic, Orlando Health, Florida Hospital, and the Downtown Development Board donated about $250,000 for the new Saturday program. Dyer says it takes around $20,000 to run the trains every Saturday. Teresa Jacobs, the mayor of Orange County, calls the project “exciting.”
Many have believed that this new start on weekends is going to be so successful that it is not going to be able to stop in February, Dyer stated that the workers and everyone that is a part of this is going to continue the momentum and keep it constantly and continuously on Saturday.
Having one in Winter Park, be sure to support the community and try out the train. Tickets are one way and round trips starting from two dollars to seven-fifty depending on how far you go. If you want to try something new, try this train and you will be on the right ‘track.’
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