Check out the impressive art at Tupperware SunRail

You should make a special trip to the Tupperware SunRail station to personally check out the amazing piece of public art on display there.

Landscape architect Jason Holden, PLA, of the Longwood-based design firm Dix.Hite + Partners, led the creation of the art concepts at the Tupperware, Meadow Woods and Poinciana stations.

“At Tupperware Station, the globe sculpture is a nod to a key corporate neighbor—Tupperware’s world headquarters—that also signifies the region’s significance as a global destination,” SunRail officials explained in a written statement.

“The axis of the art installment reflects the true axial tilt of Earth. Stainless steel tubes and bars form rings that represent lines of latitude and longitude. Jason developed these concepts in conjunction with Tupperware team members,” according to SunRail.

At the Kissimmee station, there will be rotating art on display as part of the Kissimmee Main Street Sculpture Experience.

The plan is to change the Kissimmee sculpture annually.

SunRail officials said they are working with Kissimmee Main Street program on this.

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SunRail art at the Meadow Woods station

Orange County’s Meadow Woods community is celebrated in art at the new SunRail station.

Managers at SunRail explained the art this way:

“At Meadow Woods Station, the use of weathering steel, also known as “corten,” creates a natural beauty and rustic charm reminiscent of the area’s agricultural history.

“The rusted steel look also complements furnishings at several other SunRail stations within Orange County. Patterns cut into the corten reflect local plants and landscapes. Landscape architect Jason Holden, PLA, developed the initial concepts in collaboration with Orange County staff, who also selected the final cutout patterns.

Holden, who is with the Longwood-based design firm Dix.Hite + Partners, led the creation of the art concepts at the Poinciana, Meadow Woods and Tupperware SunRail stations.

At the Kissimmee station, there will be rotating art on display as part of the Kissimmee Main Street Sculpture Experience.

The plan is to change the Kissimmee sculpture annually.

SunRail officials said they are working with Kissimmee Main Street program on this.

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What's up with the recent SunRail service interruptions?

Recently we heard complaints from a few riders annoyed with a few of the SunRail service interruptions that have occurred since operations began last month on the Southern Expansion.

We understand how frustrating delays can be, so we asked the SunRail bosses what was up.

Here is how they responded in a written statement:

“The SunRail team and its leadership acknowledge there have been a few issues during the expansion of service and the new schedule. We are operating more trains at more stations on a longer corridor.

"Even so, our goals remain the same; to operate a safe, welcoming and efficient system with an on-time performance (OTP) of better than 95%. We understand there have been some recent interruptions. We will continue to work diligently to improve and deliver the service our customers need and deserve. We also wish to thank our customers for their patience and continued support of SunRail.”

See you on The Rail.

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Check the art at Poinciana SunRail

Hopefully, the riders who boarded SunRail this morning in Poinciana took a moment to enjoy the art.

Yes, there is art at the Poinciana station! It’s on the walkway leading to the train platform.

The folks at the Florida Department of Transportation told us the art aims to honor Osceola County’s character and history by placing iconic images on vertical, aluminum panels and creating a sense of place that tells part of the story of the area’s past.

Staff from Osceola County selected the final images for the art panels.

Landscape architect Jason Holden, PLA, of the Longwood-based design firm Dix.Hite + Partners, led the creation of the art concepts at the Poinciana, Meadow Woods and Tupperware SunRail stations.

Keep watching this space and we’ll give you details about the other art.

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Good news on that Church Street ticket machine

The Church Street SunRail ticket machine problem has been resolved.

When catching SunRail Tuesday at Church Street, a message flashed on the vending machine screen saying the machine ran out of tickets. We wrote about the experience.

Today a SunRail spokesman sent us a message explaining that the machine did not run out of tickets. The machine experienced a technical malfunction that caused it to jam and prevented it from dispensing tickets.

Good to know and glad that everything is back on track.

We’re also very grateful to the train conductor who assisted us Tuesday when we encountered the problem.

See you on The Rail!

Wow, the SunRail machine ran out of tickets

Right after noon on Tuesday (Aug. 7) we tried to buy a ticket on the northbound SunRail platform at Church Street. We got the weirdest message on the vending machine screen.

It said the machine had run out of tickets and then it printed the receipt shown in the accompanying photo.

Based on what we read on the receipt, it appeared SunRail charged our credit card, but we weren’t sure. In four years of riding SunRail we had never encountered a vending machine that had run out of tickets.

There was no SunRail Ambassador on the Church Street platform when we had this problem, though we know there were Ambassadors on duty at other stations. We used the call box on the platform to call customer service. After waiting a few minutes, an agent finally picked up.

The agent wasn’t sure if we were charged or not. She checked with her supervisor and then said we had not been charged. The agent went on to say we should check our bank account in a few days to make sure we had not been charged. Huh?

By the time we got done with her, we had to run to catch our train. We told the conductor what happened and showed him the receipt. Thankfully he allowed us to ride. He explained that since the Southern Expansion there had been a problem with machines running out of tickets.

Guess that’s a good problem, considering SunRail’s lackluster ridership before service began on the Southern Expansion.

But guys, you gotta do better!

Vending machines cannot run out of tickets by noon. If they do, then they need to be serviced more frequently. Better yet, we hope SunRail can step up the development of its app so that one day soon we can buy our ticket with our smartphone and not have to deal with the vending machines or ticket validators that have been a continuing problem.

Like they said in that old TV advertisement, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

See you on The Rail!

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