Florida East Coast Industries, Inc. Announces Plans for Private Passenger Rail Service in Florida

[Lakelander]

Wow! So FEC is willing to run its own passenger rail service between Orlando and Miami and have it operational by 2014. Sweet!

Nation’s First-of-its-Kind Privately Owned and Operated System Will Connect Florida’s Largest Cities

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Florida East Coast Industries, Inc. (FECI), the owner of Florida’s premier passenger rail corridor, is developing a privately owned, operated and maintained passenger rail service to connect South Florida and Orlando, which will be operational in 2014. By connecting the most visited city in the United States with South Florida’s business and vacation destinations, the passenger rail project, called All Aboard Florida, is designed to serve Florida’s growing number of business travelers, as well as families and tourists traveling for pleasure.

The All Aboard Florida passenger rail project will connect South Florida to Orlando through a 240-mile route combining 200 miles of existing tracks between Miami and Cocoa and the creation of 40 miles of new track to complete the route to Orlando. Eventually the system could be expanded with connections to Tampa and Jacksonville.

More than fifty million people travel between South and Central Florida annually, largely over highly congested highways. All Aboard Florida is envisioned to transform the way people travel throughout the state, offering a faster, safer, and more enjoyable mode of transportation between Florida’s two largest metropolitan areas.

Targeted to begin service in 2014, the approximately $1 billion project will operate on a regular schedule throughout the day transporting business and leisure passengers between South Florida and Orlando in approximately three hours.

Full article: http://www.businesswire.com/news/hom...-Plans-Private

[South Florida]

Great News. Can't Wait to See What the Train And Stations Look Like!

[alex7677]

Very exciting news to hear! And by the time Sunrail is opening up!

[HeartofFlorida]

I'll shout hurray when the first train rolls. I've been disappointed countless times with Florida and mass transit.

[skyscraperhighrise]

Finally state government is getting out of the way of this.

[krnboy1009]

Originally Posted by HeartofFlorida

I'll shout hurray when the first train rolls. I've been disappointed countless times with Florida and mass transit.

Yup, everyone should be skeptical.

Whos gonna fund all this?

[xerxesjc28]

I agree with HeartofFlorida, and to krnboy1009, from what I have read it is going to be private.

[CubanBread]

Originally Posted by krnboy1009

Yup, everyone should be skeptical.

Whos gonna fund all this?

They are funding it all themselves, I'm skeptical too though, private company? I'd expect ticket prices to be extremely high, look at greyhound. Also they want it up an running in 2 years? Better start on it now

[HeartofFlorida]

This may not mean much but it will provide another alternative along I-4 and looks to be another step in bringing the region closer together.

Source: The Ledger

LAKELAND | The Citrus Connection has been awarded a $750,000 grant from the state for a new park and ride lot that could eventually lead to transporting Polk County residents who work in Tampa and Orlando.

Construction at the site, which is located on 1.3 acres off U.S. 98 North at Interstate 4, should begin this summer, said Tom Phillips, executive director for Citrus Connection. Initially, the site will be a bus stop and a parking space for carpoolers. more...

More:http://www.theledger.com/article/201...tc=pgall&tc=ar

[jzquince69]

I'll believe it when I see it too.

This proposal really makes the current governor look like an idiot for saying no to HSR between Tampa and Orlando. That system would link with this system.

But he's not an idiot, he's a thief (medicare fraud). we're the idiots for voting him in. I say we collectively b/c I didn't vote for him.

[skyscraperhighrise]

Originally Posted by jzquince69

I'll believe it when I see it too.

This proposal really makes the current governor look like an idiot for saying no to HSR between Tampa and Orlando. That system would link with this system.

But he's not an idiot, he's a thief (medicare fraud). we're the idiots for voting him in. I say we collectively b/c I didn't vote for him.

Actually he did the right thing to kill off that HSR Project, because we the taxpayers will not pay for it, as scum as rick scott is which I Agree with you, he did the right thing, now let the free market do THIS project, not the government.

and you think a democrat is better please, both parties are corrupt as far as I Concerned.

[HeartofFlorida]

...and it starts

Source: The Ledger

TAMPA | Tampa Bay's chronically congested interstates may soon get some breathing room: toll lanes that are sometimes dubbed "Lexus lanes."

The Florida Department of Transportation plans to launch five studies this summer and fall to assess the costs and benefits of adding toll lanes to parts of Interstate 275, I-75 and I-4 near the Polk County line. read more...

More: http://www.theledger.com/article/201...p=all&tc=pgall

[CF221]

Originally Posted by skyscraperhighrise

Actually he did the right thing to kill off that HSR Project, because we the taxpayers will not pay for it, as scum as rick scott is which I Agree with you, he did the right thing, now let the free market do THIS project, not the government.

and you think a democrat is better please, both parties are corrupt as far as I Concerned.

Cheers to you my friend.

[jzquince69]

Well, his reasons for killing it were partisan reasons, not to save the taxpayers money...for God's sake, he stole from the Fed. Do you honestly think he cared about what burden he would have put on the state seven years later? The only reason Sunrail survived was bc the good Congessman hailed from the same party as him. He is in the hip pocket of big business. And before anyone questions my viewpoint, I have historically voted for the party he represents. Then I opened my eyes. Both parties are corrupt, I know, but why should yet another state benefit with federal dollars our state should have gotten? That check is going to get written anyway.

[skyscraperhighrise]

Originally Posted by jzquince69

Well, his reasons for killing it were partisan reasons, not to save the taxpayers money...for God's sake, he stole from the Fed. Do you honestly think he cared about what burden he would have put on the state seven years later? The only reason Sunrail survived was bc the good Congessman hailed from the same party as him. He is in the hip pocket of big business. And before anyone questions my viewpoint, I have historically voted for the party he represents. Then I opened my eyes. Both parties are corrupt, I know, but why should yet another state benefit with federal dollars our state should have gotten? That check is going to get written anyway.

and reguardless, that florida HSR should have been killed, because politicians should stop spending OUR money.
now this is the project that the private should run, not the government.

and as corrupt as rick scott is, he did the right thing, unlike califorina.

[ThatFloridaDude]

I'm all for it. I'm still upset with DICK SCOTT for killing HSR.

[jzquince69]

So with that logic the govt should not finance the construction of roads with our money? That's crazy.

[ThatFloridaDude]

Originally Posted by jzquince69

So with that logic the govt should not finance the construction of roads with our money? That's crazy.

So you want to keep building more roads?

[South Florida]

Originally Posted by ThatFloridaDude

I'm all for it. I'm still upset with DICK SCOTT for killing HSR.

3 More Years.

[jzquince69]

Originally Posted by ThatFloridaDude

So you want to keep building more roads?

weren't you paying attention to my prior posts?

I was trying to make a point that the governor was wrong in killing HSR. dude says the gov't shouldn't finance public transportation like HSR, which is why I brought up road construction. it's transportation nonetheless, whether on a rail or concrete, and it still traverses an easement.