5 things to know about Tri-Rail's new express route from West Palm to Miami

South Florida's publicly run passenger train, Tri-Rail , will start its rush hour express service between downtown West Palm Beach and downtown Miami on Monday, July 1.

Here are five important things to know about Tri-Rail train from West Palm Beach to Miami.

The weekday express train is scheduled to leave the West Palm Beach station on Tamarind Avenue and Clematis Street at 6:30 a.m., arriving at the MiamiCentral station at 8:05 a.m. The service is scheduled to leave MiamiCentral at 5:35 p.m. and arrive in West Palm Beach at 7:05 p.m.

The new train does not go north in the morning or south in the evening. Passengers can board at any station on the express train's route. In addition to West Palm Beach and MiamiCentral, the stations are Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and the Miami Metrorail transfer station in Hialeah.

For $17.50, passengers can travel about 90 minutes from West Palm Beach to Miami in the early morning and return in the late afternoon, stopping at five stations instead of the 17 on the non-express route.

The faster train's fares are the same as Tri-Rail's non-express routes.

Here are the costs one way from West Palm Beach:

A ride from the Boca Raton stop will cost $5 to the Fort Lauderdale airport station and $6.25 to the Miami stops.

Tri-Rail's non-express service between West Palm Beach and Miami takes more than two hours, requiring riders to board a second Tri-Rail train at the Metrorail stop.

The cheapest one-way ticket on the privately run Brightline costs $24 for one passenger. It takes 80 minutes to go from its downtown West Palm Beach station to MiamiCentral without delays and stopping in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale and Aventura along the way.

Brightline used to offer South Florida commuters what was effectively a $10 per ride pass — $399 for 40 rides — but started raising prices this year . It now offers riders in the region a 10-trip pack for $350, effectively $35 a ride. Brightline wants to boost service on its profitable Orlando route cutting available seats for trips within South Florida.

Rides on Tri-Rail's express service are covered by its regular multi-trip passes. A regular monthly pass for non-disabled adults costs $110 for unlimited trips. A monthly pass rider who takes the express service both ways for all the 23 weekdays in July will have effectively spent $4.78 per day.

Brightline's price hikes led Tri-Rail to launch its new service. Its operator, the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, approved the express service May 31, at an estimated cost of $2.5 million.

Tri-Rail passengers can get a $5 credit when taking Uber, Lyft or a taxi to and from train stations, except MiamiCentral, if they present drivers with a valid EASY Card, which is dispensed at the stations' ticketing machines. Riders can put money on the cards to pay train fare. Anyone who wants to claim the credit can learn more at tri-rail.com/pages/view/ride-partners .

Chris Persaud is The Palm Beach Post's transportation reporter. You can reach him at .