Tri-Rail

This is the most ghetto ratchet train ride you will ever go on, if you are a female definitely bring a golf club and mase because every homeless drugged out meth head is on board or lingering the premises. People will try talking to you and disrespect you and ask you for spare change. The people who run the train don’t even check anyone’s tickets so all the homeless trash pickers who stare at you and make comments while you wait will be on. Horrible ugh. I’m on the train writing this as some toothless wonder tried hollering AGAIN at me and my sister. If we crash it will be a God send.

Worst commuter train system ever. Never, ever on time. Always around 15 minutes late, leaving you to sweat in a hot outdoor station. They constantly switch tracks between north and southbound trains, and there are no signs, no announcements, no staff at the station or online info, and you’ll miss the train if you’re on the wrong platform and have to wait another HOUR for the next train, which could easily be on the next track over. More stress than just driving on I-​95. Infrequency of trains is ridiculous. And they wonder why ridership is so poor. A waste of time.

WARNING! Be carful leaving your car over night I’m not to sure if they have any security guards (cypress creek). I pulled in one night and saw a random guy. I ask him, if he was the security. he said «no… I’m just waiting for some one» I then drove around to see if it was safe to leave my car. That’s wen I saw another man come out the car, he was standing behind. They look at me got back into the car and speed off. I thought to myself that was strange but I’m definitely not park here… EVER! Guess I’ll be getting drop off at the station until they get some sort of security. But it is still the best way to beat traffic when traveling to MIA international airport.

You’re in Florida so take that into account. this is a state with little public transportation so Tri Rail is there attempt at something viable. In theory this system is great.
You can get to the airport in a reasonable time for a low cost. Plus its rare that anyone ever checks the tickets so you don’t have to pay, if you’re criminally inclined like myself.
However, give yourself lots of extra time because this train is OFTEN late and has this
lovely habit of getting stuck waiting for the train in the opposite direction to pass, so you sit there waiting endlessly, like I did the other day, for 20 minutes. Had I not padded my time I would’ve missed my flight.
Plus there are rarely any employees to help you. Someone will announce the train is running late or stuck but that’s it. You sit there wondering when they will get their shit together.
Also there are some seedy stations. A homeless type guy sat next to me harassing women nearby the whole ride. I felt I was back on a NYC subway, circa 1980.
Not a cop in sight, let alone a train employee.

If you want a cheap way to get from the airport into Boca Raton this could be the way to go.
It all depends on how you feel about taking a shuttle… then a train… then a shuttle. If you make it that far with your luggage in tow.
We opted for the route because the round trip train is a heck of a lot cheaper than renting a car or taxi service. We were not in a hurry, this is an important factor, and were up for the adventure.
You have to catch the first shuttle from the airport (we landed in ft. Lauderdale)
That shuttle was almost on schedule, not bad for rush hour.
The shuttle is free and takes you to the station where you can buy your tickets through a machine. The machine, similar to an ATM, take cash or charge.
We bought round trip tickets because at some point, sadly, we would have to go home. The total cost per person was $ 8.45
Not too shabby since the car/​taxi services wanted $ 75 one way.
The train was on time, we got paper schedules from the airport for both shuttle and train.
Once on the train the only problem I noticed is that there were no announcements at each station or what was coming next. We had to consult the paper schedule with map to figure out when to ready ourselves to jump off.
It seems you need to be ready as soon as the doors open or you may miss your chance while getting luggage or grabbing your personal bits.
It was a smooth ride, clean train and fun different kind of ride for the kids.
Once we got to the Boca station we went to search for the right shuttle to get us to the part of town we were staying in. That is where we grew tired.
Shuttle after shuttle came and went and it wasn’t the t-​Rex we were supposed to catch.
We finally threw in the towel and hailed a cab for the last 5 miles of our travel journey.
Hardly a deal breaker it was just a long travel day with 2 small kids.
Yes I would recommend the train especially since it was rush hour and we whizzed past a highway of people sitting in their cars going nowhere fast!

As I walked out of the airport, there’s a huge comparison sign that shows you the difference in price between taking a taxi to Miami (which is approx $ 70) or taking the tri rail to Miami. (which costs $ 5 dollars) (but you do have to connect to the Metrolink. They give you a free pass)
This is obviously a no-​brainer.
**train offers free wi-​fi as well**
I got to see the different cities in Florida and converse a bit with the people (which I love)
Oh and travel time 1 hour 15 minutes to get to Downtown Miami. (Then you have to catch the S bus to South Beach if that is where you are going. Another 20 minute ride. But a beautiful one. trust me!)

The train is cheap.
Plus if you need to take a bus to get to your location it’s only 50 cents more, which is nice. So not too bad, but pretty much like any train anywhere else.

were jerks and booked me a flight to Ft. Lauderdale airport instead of Miami for my cruise when my cruise takes off from Miami, but that’s what you get when you name your own price, they pick an airport nearby that’s cheaper instead of getting a good price to that particular airport you want. Anyway, we didn’t want to take a Super shuttle from Fort Lauderdale to Miami because it was a little pricey, cabs are even more expensive, and we weren’t renting a car so what did we do? We hopped on the Tri-​Rail! Best thing ever! We went from Fort Lauderdale to Miami Airport in less than an hour for less than $ 5 per person! What a deal!
There were plenty of space for us to put our luggage, the ride was reasonably easy besides some weird people nearby. We were expecting someone to check our tickets but they didn’t. It reminds me of the commuter rail we have in Boston, where you can go to different cities for so much cheaper than driving! From the Tri-​Rail stop in Miami, we took a cab to Port of Miami and got to our cruise with so much extra time for lunch at the top deck. :)

The Tri-​Rail from Palm Beach to the Miami Airport. It does not have a station at the Fort Lauderdale Airport so you will need to take a shuttle bus. It does not go to downtown Miami so you need to connect to the Metrorail.
The cars are air conditioned and cleaner than expected. The trains run during limited hours on both weekend and weekdays so be sure and check the schedule. The stations are outside. They are very good at updating you with delays, in both English and Spanish. The station addresses are listed on their website.