Rail Authority Picks Greeneway Route

[Amfleet]

Rail Authority Picks Greeneway Route
Proposed System Will Connect Orlando, Tampa

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Florida's high-speed rail authority has settled on a route for proposed train service between Orlando and Tampa.

Officials voted 7-to-1 to align the train along Central Florida's Greeneway rather than lay tracks along state Road 528, WESH NewsChannel 2 reported.  

The decision followed hours of debate at the Orlando Expo Center and demands from officials that Disney do everything possible to get park guests to use the rail service for travel between the theme parks and Orlando International Airport.

Full article and video can be found here.

Now in my own interest, is this just a step in the process towards cross Florida high-speed rail or is this a set plan. Also, one would think that if this service will make connecting from a plane at Orlando airport to the downtown Disney resorts that this could affect Amtrak's Silver Service market.

 

[AlanB]

Well it's really a plan. Now the big question is will the State actually find the money to build it.

So far the Governor Jeb Bush is dead set against this plan. He's done everything he possible can to undermine and halt the progress. He's held up funding and avoided budgeting the needed funds for the committee to even do its work.

The question will be what can be done legally to force him to comply with the amendment. Or will Florida just have to vote him out of office?

 

[battalion51]

Well actually this is Bushy's last term thanks to the two term limit. So I think once he goes out, we will have amuch easier time getting HSR going.

 

[Amfleet]

Well actually this is Bushy's last term thanks to the two term limit. So I think once he goes out, we will have amuch easier time getting HSR going.

Well, the way things are set in the Sunshine State you guys can't even get the ballots straight, so Bush could sneek in a 3rd term for all we know. <_<

Seriously though, doesn't he have three years left in office anyway. Maybe by that time he could be convinced. Another question of mine, is there all ready a route that runs from Orlando to Tampa through Disney? It seems that quite a bit of new ROW is going to have to be built. Something that has not been done in this country for quite a while.

 

[battalion51]

Well there are is a route that runs near Diseny, that being the fromer ACL (current CSX) "A-Line" which runs from JAX-ORL-TPA. This line is used by Silver Star/Meteor JAX-Auburndale, and Palmetto bug Auburndale-Tampa-Lakeland. Now the closest the A-Line comes to Disney is about three miles near Loughman Holdout (MP A819). Now since this is a CSX line that gets a lot of Business from Tampa to Lakeland, CSX wouldn't be willing to sell. Even if they did sell, you would face a project like the South Florida Rail Corridor, but on a larger scale. Not only would the route HAVE to be Double Tracked, but signifcant improvements (i.e. Cab Signals, ACSES, 21 inches of ballast, etc.) would have to be installed. Now on a line that is already in service and can't be removed from service, that's one helluva job. The state already owns the ROW along the interstates, and the Greeneway, so minimal ROW purchases are needed. Next this ROW is already grade sperated, making it much easier to instal roadbed. Finally, there would be no traffic already on the line making construction go a lot faster. Now will you likely see the state tie into the A-Line (getting trackage rights) at Orlando and Tampa to use existing stations to tie in with Amtrak service? Yes. But, I do not think purchasing the ROW from CSX would be a wise or possible move.

 

[AlanB]

Well actually this is Bushy's last term thanks to the two term limit. So I think once he goes out, we will have amuch easier time getting HSR going.

I didn't know that Florida had a two term limit for Governor.

Of course Jeb can still do a lot of damage to this project during his final years.

Remeber one of the very first things he did upon being elected Governor was to kill the original High Speed Rail project. That's why a few years later it was made an amendment to the State's charter. That way he couldn't kill it outright.

But he can still do a lot of damage in the meantime.