Here’s A Look at Progress on MiamiCentral Train Station as Construction Chugs Along

Once there were parking lots. Now it’s a huge train station.

Or it will be by next summer, when MiamiCentral station — the southern hub for the new Brightline express train service to Orlando — opens for business smack in the middle of downtown.

To judge from the architectural renderings, the station will be a train lover’s dream, Miami’s answer to Manhattan’s Grand Central, albeit in modern garb: Glowing escalators lead up into a soaring, skylit concourse and train platforms that are elevated 50 feet above the streets.

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In downtown Miami, progress is dramatic. Crews sank 1,300 pilings into the ground to a depth of 100 feet to support the station, designed by architectural giant Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with Miami’s Zyscovich Architects.