LIKE Virginia Railway Express, Florida's TriRail commuter rail system was created as an alternative to Interstate 95. Like VRE, TriRail shares its route with Amtrak trains and CSX freights, has been building more track capacity and still has trouble running on time.

On a visit to Miami earlier this month I was eager to check out TriRail and see how it compares with VRE.

The Florida Department of Transportation purchased the CSX line and established TriRail in 1989 as a transportation alternative during a five-year I-95 construction project. TriRail was operated by the Tri-County Commuter Rail Authority. By the time construction work was complete on I-95, TriRail was so popular that it was made a permanent part of the South Florida transportation network.

Congestion on the railroad was a problem, however. The CSX line purchased by TriRail was a single track with passing sidings. In 1995, Florida began a 12-year project to double-track the entire 72-mile railroad between West Palm Beach and the Miami airport to better accommodate passenger trains. During that time (in 2003), the three-county authority became the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority.

TriRail is unusual in that its main terminal is not in a city. It's in an industrial area about a mile from the Miami International Airport terminal, reached by a free shuttle bus. (A future project may extend TriRail to a new intermodal transportation center at the airport itself.)

Many of TriRail's passengers are going to or from the airport, and the lower level of each TriRail passenger car has large luggage racks in place of some seats. The airport traffic is encouraged by the frequent TriRail service: 50 weekday and 16 weekend trains.

Passengers traveling to or from downtown Miami (about 10 miles away) make a free transfer to the Miami metro.