Boca Raton Station, Florida, USA

The ground-breaking ceremony of Brightline’s Boca Raton station took place in January 2022. Credit: Brightline.

The Boca train station was constructed by Kaufman Lynn Construction. Credit: Brightline.

The new Boca station was designed by Zyscovich Architects. Credit: Brightline.

The new station links Boca Raton to Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando. Credit: Brightline.

The Boca Raton station was inaugurated in December 2022.Sourced from Media Kit available in the press room section of Brightline’s webs.

The Boca Raton station is built on a 1.8-acre plot of land between Mizner Park and the downtown library in Boca Raton, Florida, US.

Located close to Palmetto Park Road and Dixie Highway, it is the third station to be constructed in Brightline’s south corridor, and the fifth operational station in Florida. It provides connections to Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Aventura, West Palm Beach and Orlando.

The project was implemented to enhance mobility to regional workplaces and increase the tourism potential of the city. In addition to improved connectivity and mobility, the station will help reduce emissions.

Completed in December 2022, the station is part of phase two expansion of the Brightline High-Speed Rail Project being built between West Palm Beach and Orlando.

Boca Raton station features

The 22,000ft²  (1,858m²) Boca Raton station features an innovative autonomous market named MRKT, which provides a checkout-free retail market experience featuring products such as snacks and prepared foods, beverages, toiletries and electronic goods. The station also features SMART and PREMIUM lounges.

The station provides a cashless environment and high-speed Wi-Fi, and features touchless turnstiles to improve passenger experience.

A multi-storey car parking garage offers space for 455 vehicles, including 391 spaces for station users, and 64 dedicated covered spaces on the first floor for visitors to the library.

A separate entrance was created for the downtown library parking, which is provided as a complimentary service. The station also offers two complimentary on-demand Brightline+ EV carts to destinations within downtown Boca Raton.

Construction of Boca Raton station

The project was implemented as a partnership between Brightline, the City of Boca Raton, and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

Brightline submitted a letter to the city of Boca Raton in 2019 and expressed its interest in building a new station in the city. It received approval from the Boca Raton City Council for a long-term property lease in December 2019. The lease agreement was for the new train station and a parking garage.

Construction of the car parking garage of the Boca Raton station began in December 2021 while the station was started in January 2022. In August of the same year, the construction activity at the station reached the “topping off” milestone.

Funding for Boca Raton station project

The City of Boca Raton received a Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement (CRISI) grant of $16.35m from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) in September 2020. The grant was awarded to fund the construction of Boca station and parking garage.

The city council committed $9.9m for the construction of the parking garage. Brightline agreed to fund the remaining project cost of approximately $30m and bear the operational expenditure of the garage. Profits from the parking garage will be split between the council and the company.

Brightline also funded the construction of a 1.4-acre community garden for charity organisation the Junior League of Boca Raton, at Meadows Park, and a temporary parking lot for the downtown library, under the lease agreement.

Contractors involved

Kaufman Lynn Construction, a full-service commercial construction company based in the US, was appointed as the construction manager for the garage and train station.

Zyscovich Architects, a master planning and architecture company, was selected to provide the design for the Boca Raton station.

RLC Architects, a local architecture company, acted as the architect for the project.

Facade + Envelope Engineering Consultants, a local engineering consultant, provided building envelope consulting, inspection and testing services for the project.

Metromont, a precast concrete manufacturer, supplied the precast concrete pieces and elevated precast for Boca Raton station’s parking garage building.

Caulfield & Wheeler, a surveying and construction layout services provider, was selected to offer calculations, stakeout and as-built surveys for the project.

Big D Paving, a local paving contractor, was hired to provide asphalt construction for the project.