SunRail hits track with groundbreaking ceremony

After years of false starts and delayed promises, construction on Central Florida’s SunRail commuter rail line has begun.

The venture is touted as the piece to a puzzle that will help spur the area’s economy for decades to come.

“Since we have made the announcement, there has been over $500 million worth of development announced,” Mayor Buddy Dyer said. “It’s been announced in each case because of SunRail.”

Congressman John Mica says the project will create jobs instantly.

“Forty to fifty thousand jobs in construction, which is our hardest hit in unemployment category in Florida, particularly Central Florida,” Mica said.

The 61-mile SunRail project will stretch from Volusia County, to the northeast of Orlando, to Osceola County, to the south.

The first phase of the project will connect Orlando with DeBary, a community that is about halfway to Daytona Beach. The first 31-mile stretch is scheduled to be complete by spring 2014.

“This is all about putting people to work,” Mica said.  

The $1.3 billion project is slated to be finished in 2016.