Mark the date: Tri-Rail’s new shuttle between Palm Beach International Airport and its West Palm Beach station starts running Oct. 16.
Palm Beach International is the only major airport in South Florida with no direct connection to Tri-Rail.
Shuttles take passengers between Tri-Rail’s Fort Lauderdale Airport station in Dania Beach and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. And Miami International Airport is connected to Tri-Rail via an automated train.
Currently, only Palm Tran buses run every 30 minutes between Tri-Rail’s West Palm Beach station and the airport.
The new shuttle will meet every train that stops at the station, with the ride taking about 10 minutes to and from the airport.
Tri-Rail’s connection to the airport ended in 1999 when the Florida Department of Transportation tore down an old Tri-Rail station that served the airport on Mercer Avenue just north of Belvedere Road to make room for the ramps connecting Interstate 95 to the airport.
Tri-Rail briefly had a shuttle service to the Palm Beach airport, but officials ended it because it wasn’t being used. Now there’s an effort to start it again as more Tri-Rail passengers have requested better access to Palm Beach International Airport.
Officials say their goal is to build another station to serve the airport, with a potential location near Airport Centre, a county complex nestled between Australian Avenue and Southern Boulevard.
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