Rail Traffic
Rail traffic over the CSX bascule bridge primarily consists of CSX freight trains. In December 2007, average daily train volumes over the bascule bridge included:
- Approximately 4.3 CSX unit stone trains per day (100-120 cars per train)
- Approximately 3.0 local CSX freight service (varies from 5 to 20 cars per train)
- Approximately 1.6 CSX work trains
In the event of maintenance or shutdown of the parallel Tri-Rail line, Tri-Rail and Amtrak trains will utilize the trackage over the bascule span. However, the freight traffic using the CSX bridge cannot run on the Tri-Rail line, because the grade over the New River is too steep for freight traffic.
Transit
The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) operates a transit facility which is parallel to the CSX track, between the CSX railroad and I-95. This transit facility, known as Tri-Rail, was recently improved to a double track for 72 miles, with 30 to 40 commuter trains operating per day. Tri-Rail is projected to serve 27,900 average daily boardings by 2015. Amtrak also uses this track with four trains per day over the Tri-Rail tracks.
System Linkage
The CSX freight rail line that runs over the bascule bridge (Milepost 1013.9) connects with the double-track Tri-Rail mainline approximately 0.8 miles north of the bridge (Milepost 1013.1), and 1.9 miles south of the bridge (Milepost 1015.8.) CSX operates a small local freight switching yard at Dania, just south of the bascule bridge. The Tri-Rail mainline is shared with CSX and Amtrak north and south of these connection points. To the north, the CSX line connects with the Florida East Coast Railway at Northwood near West Palm Beach (Milepost 967) and continues northwest and intersects at Auburndale (Milepost 822) with the CSX line running between Orlando and Tampa. To the south the Tri-Rail line ends at Miami International Airport (Milepost 1037.5), with the CSX trackage continuing south to Homestead.
