Construction is underway for a massive expansion of the Orlando International Airport.
Changes include larger ticket lobbies and faster checked bag processing, replacing the airport's people movers and adding more shuttles. They are also building a new complex to connect visitors to the areas trains.
Some 35 million people visit the airport annually, and the airport says now is the time to make those expansions.
“At the point when we get past 40 million annual passengers as a total, we’re going to need more facilities to handle that," said Stan Thornton, COO with Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. "And it’s not just gates and airline gates, it’s baggage, it’s roadways, it’s parking facilities. All those amenities that make the entire operation.”
Among those trains is a planned MagLev system. MagLev is short for magnetic levitation. The train line will carry people from the airport to the Orange County Convention Center on International Drive.
MagLev has hired a train car designer for their passenger trains. Michigan-based company Van Buren Township signed an agreement with American MagLev to build the train cars.
The Florida Department of Transportation said they are still working on getting the land for the tracks the train will sit on.
The project should create 85 local jobs for project development with a potential for 100 or more permanent jobs. MagLev is hoping to have its first two trains by next summer.
The airport construction projects, meanwhile, should wrap up in about two years.
The project is expected to cost $1.1 billion, paid mostly with bonds. The goal is to prep the airport for an eventual new terminal.