The delay is confirmed! News 13 has learned SunRail’s expansion north to DeLand and south into Osceola County will be delayed by nearly a year.

While officials said they hope to speed-up the schedule, it all depends on how soon the Department of Transportation can get full funding from the federal government.

Officials said the federal government changed its requirements for funding and are looking more closely at the number of riders expected to use SunRail in the northern and southern expansions.

Right now, stations in Osceola County predict thousands of daily riders, while the expansion to DeLand is projected to only see a couple hundred.

Originally scheduled to be complete by the end of 2016, the expansion is now delayed by eight more months,  that is if funding can be secured in time.

SunRail said $92 million is needed for the southern expansion and $34 million for the northern leg.

But the lack of funding hasn’t slowed down the planning process.

“We’re already acquiring right of way and design, so that hasn’t inhibited us in any way from moving forward on that," Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said.

Dyer, who sits on the SunRail board, admits it was overly optimistic to meet the 2016 deadline.

SunRail officials at the Department of Transportation said they met all deadlines and provided all information to the Federal Transit Administration, but additional requests for information, specifically about ridership, have put a new question mark on when and how much money will come from federal grants.

“Originally there was not a ridership sort of requirement, but now they have added a ridership requirement," said Viviana Janer, vice chair of the Osceola County Commission. "We definitely in Osceola County have the ridership numbers."

SunRail anticipates 2,000 daily riders to go through three Osceola County stops in Poinciana, downtown Kissimmee and the Tupperware plant on Osceola Parkway.

But the northern leg in Volusia County connecting Deland and Debary may not get enough passengers to meet the FTA’s qualifications. SunRail predicts about 225 daily riders.

“That’s a little more problematic in terms of funding from the government," Dyer said. "But we’re looking at different sources."

Dyer said he believes there may be more riders who will use the future DeLand station than predicted, since right now DeBary is one of the busiest stations and could be attracting riders from farther north.

For those folks in Osceola County already wishing to ride SunRail, officials said there is a bus from downtown Kissimmee that provides daily transportation to the Sand Lake Station.