PHOTO: Miami is hoping that the new flagship station for All Aboard Florida will give Miami it’s Grand Central Station.

For years, tourism in Florida has had to overcome the 230-mile distance between Miami and Orlando. This distance divides the Sunshine State into two successful vacation destinations separated by a hassle. “Too short to fly and too long to drive,” is the way executives at All Aboard Florida (AAF) describe the gulf. AAF (www.allaboardflorida.com) believes it will revolutionize Floridian tourism when it introduces a three-hour rail connection between Miami and Orlando in 2016.

A June study by the Washington Economics Group found there would be about $6 billion in direct impact over the next eight years, with $3.5 billion added to Florida’s economy through 2021 as well as 10,000 construction jobs between 2014 and 2015, plus 5,000 permanent jobs once construction is done.

The AAF train revives the East Coast Railroad that Henry Flagler (a stakeholder in Standard Oil) envisioned in the final days of late 19th century. The new train will run on Flagler’s rail corridor. Not what you would technically call “high speed,” the trains will top out at 125 mph. For Florida, which gets 95 million tourists per year and is targeting 100 million, the connection will provide both a boon to business and the environment.

“Tourists coming to Florida have usually come either for the theme parks and entertainment industry of Orlando or for the international vibrancy of Miami,” said Julie Edwards, AAF’s chief marketing officer. “In restoring Henry Flagler’s vision, we’ll be providing a much more convenient experience that will allow them to do both with 16 departures per day from both Miami and Orlando.

“We signed up to attend the next PowWow so that we can begin forming all of the partnerships that are part and parcel of the tourism industry. Increasingly, we’re growing into as much of a hospitality company as a transit company.”

PHOTO: All Aboard Florida’s Robinson sees the three-hour journey as ideal for maximum ridership.

“Each train will have the capacity to carry 400 passengers on seven passenger cars and a café car,” said AAF’s president and COO, Don Robinson. “The seating will be configured in different categories to serve tourists, local residents and business travelers. Instead of dealing with the traffic, the weather, the distance, they’ll come into a comfortable train with great seats, free Wi-FI access and a café car.”

About 50 million people travel between Central Florida (Orlando) and Southern Florida (Miami) per year, almost all of them driving. “The traffic on the highways between the two cities is awful, especially on I-95,” said Edwards. “We expect the train to take 5 million cars off the road per year. Moving one passenger by train between Orlando and Miami uses a gallon of fuel.“

The rail line is not part of Amtrak or any other government agency. It’s a completely private initiative that is made entirely feasible by the fact that AAF already owns the corridor between Orlando and Miami. Thus there are no government subsidies required, the investments were made long ago.

PHOTO: All Aboard Florida’s Edwards sees a big advantage for the environment in Florida.

Some investment still must be made. “We have to build three stations, upgrade the tracks for the higher speeds and add the rolling stock,” said Robinson. “Two of our stations, in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, are located near the government centers. We are partnering with Orlando Airport to build a third station there.”

AAF’s plans for the Miami station has been described by the Miami Herald as a “four-block-long labyrinth of shops, restaurants, offices and, oh yes, tracks, perched on a floating platform in downtown Miami.” The 11.2-acre complex will be topped by three towers varying in height from 15 to 28 stories, and flanked by an 80-story skyscraper. It’s hoped that the station will stimulate development and become a landmark comparable to New York’s Grand Central Station.

With so much of Florida’s tourism coming from Europe, where rail travel is second nature, AAF looks like a winner before it even breaks out of the gate. Robinson cited the performance trends in European rail travel when he pointed out that “the three-hour train trip is the ideal length for maximum train ridership (in Europe). The Chunnel and the Eurostar have pushed airlines connecting Paris and London out of the market.”