One less eyesore for SunRail riders

SunRail riders will soon have one less eyesore to endure.

The city of Orlando just announced plans to rehabilitate the historic Orlando Amtrak station that is adjacent to the SunRail platforms at Orlando Regional Medical Center, just south of downtown Orlando.

Riders who use the ORMC and Sand Lake Road SunRail station know how rundown the exterior of the Amtrak station looks. We wrote about the conditions at the station back in June.

This grand building, constructed in 1928, has been neglected for years. As the accompanying photos show, the paint has been stripped by years of wind, rain and scorching sun. Roof leaks, mold and neglect have contributed to the sorry condition of this building, which is owned by the Florida Department of Transportation.

The city says that the $2.5 million project to rehabilitate the exterior will begin this September and it’s expected to be finished by Fall 2015. It would have been nice if someone thought to fix the Orlando Amtrak before SunRail started rolling this past May.

The Orlando Amtrak station has been in this sorry condition for nearly 10 years. It’s pitiful that it took so long to get around to fixing this train terminal, which is used every year by nearly 150,000 passengers. What a great welcome they’ve been getting to the world’s most popular tourist destination.

Don’t start dancing the streets yet, because the interior of the Orlando Amtrak station is only slightly better than the exterior, and there’s no money in the budget to fix to overhaul inside the station.

This Orlando Amtrak station is just one of many eyesore along the SunRail route. What other eyesores do you see while riding SunRail? Send us an email at info@sunrailriders.com