DELAND, Fla. — Friday was an exciting and anticipated day in DeLand as the vision for a SunRail commuter rail line to connect four Central Florida counties through 17 stations and over 61 miles, came to fruition with the opening of a new SunRail station in Volusia County.

What You Need To Know

  • City and county leaders, and FDOT officials welcomed riders at the DeBary SunRail station Friday morning to board the inaugural train to DeLand to celebrate the grand opening of the new station there

  • The ride from the DeBary station to DeLand is 12.2 miles

  • The SunRail commuter rail line connects four Central Florida counties through 17 stations and over 61 miles

“For those who have not experienced SunRail, to go to DeLand and experience all that DeLand has to offer, this is their opportunity to do so,” said Florida Department of Transportation communications manager Matthew Richardson.

City and county leaders, and FDOT officials welcomed riders at the DeBary SunRail station to board the inaugural train to DeLand to celebrate the grand opening of the station there.

“Oh, it’s just a pleasure being able to ride the train. First train really into DeLand,” Volusia County resident Steve Burley said.

Steve and Kathy Burley, and Susan Macon, sat at a bench waiting for the first SunRail train connecting DeBary and DeLand.

“We live four miles from the DeLand train stop, so we’ll be able to drive around the corner, get on the train and go to Sanford, Winter Park, Orlando and on down, and even catch the cross trains down to South Florida and things. So, we’re very, very excited,” Kathy said.

The three have been pushing for this expansion for a decade. 

“Waiting 10 years for this,” Macon said.

Steve said he used to work with the county’s economic development program, and then moved to the city of DeLand, where he continued to push for this SunRail expansion.

“Did a lot of lobbying and pushing and letters and support for the station," he said.

Now they will get to experience it firsthand as they board the first inaugural ride to celebrate the grand opening of the SunRail DeLand station.

“I owned a business in downtown for years, and I lived downtown," Macon said. "So, I can see this bringing people to visit us and our shops the way we’ve gone to Winter Park and Kissimmee on the train."

Former Volusia County Council member and state Rep. Pat Patterson was also among the people riding the first train.

“This is a project that I’ve been involved with for over 20 years — 10 years on the County Council and 10 years in the state Legislature," he said. "So, this coming to DeLand has been exciting for me and my wife and my family and friends. So, it’s a wonderful day."

The ride from the DeBary station to DeLand is 12.2 miles.

Macon said she hopes this SunRail expansion to DeLand brings more people to visit the city's downtown.

“We’re getting more and more people that we see posts on Facebook that they’ve discovered DeLand, but they’ve had to drive to get there," she said. "So now maybe we can show them how easy it is to come by train."