Government Center station is an intermodal transit hub in the Government Center district of Downtown Miami, Florida. Operated by Miami-Dade Transit, it serves as a transfer station for the Metrorail rapid transit and Metromover people mover systems, and as a bus station for Miami's Metrobus and, during weekday rush hours, Broward County Transit buses. The station is connected via a pedestrian bridge over NW 3rd Street to the southern end of MiamiCentral and is directly linked to the Stephen P. Clark Government Center Building. It opened on May 20, 1984, adjacent to the site of a former Florida East Coast Railway station. It also serves as a free connection to MiamiCentral, which connects to Brightline and South Florida's Commuter Rail, which is called Tri-Rail. These two train operators are in MiamiCentral.
History Metrorail and Metromover station
Development of the civic center was reinvigorated during the 1970s and early 1980s amid a Downtown building boom, which led to the construction of the Stephen P. Clark Government Center, Metrorail, Metromover, and the Miami-Dade Cultural Plaza, home to HistoryMiami and the Miami-Dade Public Library System Main Library.
Construction on the present-day Government Center station began in June 1982. The station was designed by Cambridge Seven Associates in collaboration with Edward D. Stone and built by the Frank J. Rooney Construction Company. Metrorail service between Overtown and Kendall commenced in May 1984, following the former Florida East Coast Railway route.
An unused, partially completed "ghost platform" for a future East-West Metrorail line is located on the mezzanine level below the current Metrorail platform, visible to passengers transferring from Metromover. This platform was part of the original design concept interfacing with the atrium of the Miami-Dade County Administration Building and the Metromover station.
Florida East Coast Railroad station
The station is adjacent to the former site of a railroad station built in April 1896 as the southern terminus of Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway (FEC). The terminal was demolished by November 1963. The FEC retained ownership of the site, which was used as parking lots until 2014. It is now MiamiCentral, an intermodal hub served by Brightline higher-speed inter-city trains since 2018 and Tri-Rail commuter trains since 2024.
Station layout The second floor contains the main Metrorail fare control area, Metromover platforms, and the Metrofare Shops retail area.
The third floor serves as a mezzanine for transfers between Metrorail and Metromover, includes the unused east–west "ghost platform," and features a pedestrian bridge connecting directly to the southern end of MiamiCentral for Brightline and Tri-Rail passengers.
The fourth floor houses the Metrorail platform, the highest in the Miami-Dade Transit system, capable of accommodating up to eight-car trains.
Transit connections
Metrobus
Route Description Map Notes2The Mall at 163rd Street via NW 2 Ave and North Miami AvenueMap3Aventura Mall via Biscayne BoulevardMap24-hour service7Dolphin Mall via NW 7 StMap7AMiami Airport Station via NW 7 ST/ NW 42nd AVEMap9Aventura Mall via NE 2 AveMap11Downtown Miami ↔ Florida International University (FIU) Modesto Maidique Campus via Flagler Street and West 107 Ave (SR 985)Map24-hour service21Northside station via West 12 AveMap77Downtown Miami ↔ Miami Gardens at Miami Gardens Drive/North 183 St or 199 St via NW 7 and NW 2 Ave. (US 441)Map24-hour service95/95A/95B 95 Express (Golden Glades Tri-Rail station and Park and Ride Lot via I-95)MapAfternoon rush hours only100Aventura Mall via Miami Beach and Collins AvenueMap24-hour service101Miami Beach Mt. Sinai Medical Center via Alton Rd, MacArthur Causeway and Biscayne Blvd.Map203Biscayne MAX (Aventura via Biscayne Boulevard)MapRush hours only; limited-stop207Little Havana Connection (Downtown Miami ↔ Little Havana via SW 7 St & 1 St)Map208Little Havana Connection (Downtown Miami ↔ Little Havana via Flagler Street & SW 8 St)Map211Flagler MAX (Downtown Miami ↔ Sweetwater via Flagler St)MapRush hours only; limited-stop400South OWL (Downtown Miami ↔ Dadeland South station)MapOvernight only401North OWL (Downtown Miami ↔ 163 St Mall Terminal)MapOvernight only836Express (Downtown Miami ↔ Dolphin Station Park and Ride)MapWeekday rush hour only; limited-stop 837Express (Downtown Miami ↔ Tamiami Station Park and Ride)MapWeekday rush hour only; limited-stop
Broward County Transit Route Description Map Notes109 95 Express (Downtown Miami ↔ Pines Boulevard (SR 820) at Flamingo Road (SR 823) via I-95 and Pines Blvd)MapWeekday rush hour only; limited-stop110595 Express (Sunrise BB&T Center ↔ Downtown Miami and Brickell via I-95)MapWeekday rush hour only; limited stop
Miami Trolley Route MapCoral Way Map
Places of interest Downtown Miami Neighborhoods: Arts & Entertainment District, Park West, and Miami Jewelry District Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts Kaseya Center Bayfront Park Bayside Marketplace The Congress Building Courthouse Center David W. Dyer Federal Building and United States Courthouse Flagler Street Freedom Tower Historical Museum of Southern Florida Miami Art Museum Miami Dade College (Wolfson Campus) Miami-Dade County Courthouse Miami Main Library Museum Park Museum Tower New World School of the Arts Olympia Theater Stephen P. Clark Government Center
Gallery
See also Transportation in South Florida
References
External links
MDT – Metrorail Stations MDT – Metromover Stations 1st Street entrance from Google Maps Street View