Promoting passenger trains as a transportation alternative in Florida since 1983.  We are citizens who advocate for Amtrak, commuter rail, intercity rail and transit for Florida's future.

The Silver Rail Blog

  • 28 Jul 2010 2:44 PM | Jackson McQuigg (Administrator)

    FCRP members are encouraged to attend and speak up for the extension of high speed rail to Tampa International Airport at a City Council meeting this Thursday!

    Tampa's airport needs a high speed rail station.

    Currently, plans call for HSR at Miami International Airport and Orlando International Airport-- but not Tampa's airport.

    FCRP continues to advocate for and endorse Hillsborough County's plan for a light rail system and the local option sales tax for transit which will be on the ballot in the fall, including the construction of light rail to Tampa International Airport.

    The two systems (light rail and high speed rail), of course, serve different needs-- a fact lost on the media and even some well-meaning local public officials.

    We received this notice today from Tampa City Council Member Mary Mulhern.

    --Jackson McQuigg

    THIS IS IT - A CHANCE FOR THE PUBLIC TO BE HEARD ON PLANNING FOR HIGH-SPEED RAIL TO TAMPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

     

    Emailing, commenting on-line, private conversations with leaders and decisionmakers are important, BUT OPEN PUBLIC SUPPORT IS THE TRUE LEADERSHIP NEEDED FROM CITIZENS.  

     

    Business and government leaders and the media need to hear from the Tampa Bay Community.

     

    WHAT:  Tampa City Council public comment and staff reports on HSR to TIA 

    WHEN:  Thursday, July, 29

                   9:00 am - public comment time

                   10:30 or sometime after that - presentations on HSR and adoption of resolution supporting HSR study for TIA

     

    WHERE: Tampa City Council Chambers, 715 E. Kennedy Blvd, 3rd floor

     

  • 22 Jul 2010 12:46 PM | Stephen Sayles (Administrator)

    This will be the first link to the interstate rail will include rubber tire connectors between Sun Rail and Amtrak and no TIA on the route.
    Need we say more.

    Construction begins for HSR

    Stephen Sayles
    President FCRP

  • 21 Jul 2010 5:54 AM | Stephen Sayles (Administrator)

    Here is an article from the USA Today business section on travel that Tim Mack pointed out. The airlines get it however Tampa???

    Airport Intermodal

    Tim Mack
    Vice President FCRP

  • 20 Jul 2010 10:15 AM | Stephen Sayles (Administrator)

    Here is the latest from Bay New 9 where Mayor Iorio says "it would be a waste to make a station stop at TIA". Her light rail is a better idea.

    HSR TIA connection

    This is why this HSR is in question when Tampa's own Mayor doesn't seem to get it.

    Stephen Sayles
    President FCRP

  • 09 Jul 2010 2:51 PM | Deleted user

    Brevard cities should continue studying revived Amtrak train route
    Brevard County needs any economic boost it can get as it heads into the difficult post-shuttle era, and here’s one that has potential:

    Restoring Amtrak passenger service down Florida’s East Coast with stops in Titusville, Cocoa and Melbourne.

    County and city officials have been studying the idea since it was proposed last year as part of the Obama administration’s economic stimulus plan to create jobs and improve public transportation.

    The White House has $2.5 billion available this year on top of $8 billion allocated last year to revitalize existing rail service and start new projects, including the already approved high-speed rail plan between Orlando and Tampa. The 2011 budget includes another $1 billion in funding for rail.

    The Florida Department of Transportation has applied for money to revive the Jacksonville-Miami route, which was canceled more than 40 years ago.

    Cities along the 350 miles of track — Titusville, Cocoa and Melbourne among them — have jumped at the prospect, conducting feasibility studies and picking sites for stations that could see trains starting in 2012.

    It’s a smart planning approach that should continue because the trains could aid employment and businesses, particularly in places such as Cocoa Village and historic downtown Melbourne, where trains and their passengers would stop.

    For instance, an Amtrak train station in Winter Park, where Amtrak has stopped since 1971, had 30,948 passengers last year. The city’s investment to maintain the station is $10,000.

    In all, state officials project 176,000 people would initially travel the route, creating more than 6,300 indirect, permanent jobs and $259 million in annual earnings for the region by 2021.

    John Titkanich, Cocoa’s community development director, summarized his city’s interest, telling FLORIDA TODAY:

    “We subsidize building and widening roads for vehicles far more and at a greater cost than rail. What is happening nationally is beginning to hit Florida, Central Florida and now Brevard County. Passenger rail is an integral component to a larger multi-modal transportation network that will provide transportation choices to many.”

    That said, financial concerns about the project’s long-term viability are legitimate and need scrutiny before local cities could consider making a final commitment, should Florida be awarded the stimulus money in October.

    The route would require about $268 million in stimulus money for start-up and capital costs. The state and Amtrak also will need to contribute $10 million in its first year of operation alone, with a 20 percent match from cities with stations.

    Beyond that, the stimulus dollars are not enough to create a robust passenger rail industry nationwide, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office, a watchdog arm of Congress.

    The report also questioned the ability of states such as Florida to fund rail capital and operating expenses in the future with states and localities facing severe budget deficits for several years.

    However, rail supporters say one funding mechanism gaining interest is a federal trust fund based on user fees to replace the expiring highway trust fund. That could help the rail service pay for itself.

    And help Brevard gain needed jobs and revenue for businesses from trains rolling down the tracks.

  • 06 Jul 2010 9:14 AM | Stephen Sayles (Administrator)

    Here is an article from the St Pete Times that explains why, no matter where a new stadium goes, rail needs to go with it.

    Rays and Rail

    Stephen Sayles
    President FCRP

  • 29 Jun 2010 8:26 PM | Anonymous

    The St. Augustine City Commission on Monday picked a former Florida East Coast Railway station, between U.S. 1 and San Marco Avenue, for a proposed Amtrak station. The proposed passenger line could connect Jacksonville to Miami.

    http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2010-06-29/city-commission-picks-san-marco-site-proposed-amtrak-station

     

     

     

  • 24 Jun 2010 8:55 AM | Deleted user

    The Cocoa City Council on June 23 accepted the study committee's leading recomendation and voted to lease and renovate the former FEC passenger station for Amtrak.  The building was one of the larger depots on the FEC system built in the late 1950's and has over 4,000 square feet of space.  2,500 square feet will be used for Amtrak while the remaining 1,500 square feet is anticipated to be used to accomodate intermodal bus services including Greyhound, connecting local city bus service, busses to the cruise terminals at Port Canaveral, and possibly charter busses.

    The Cocoa station will be the largest of the three stations in Brevard County and is also planned to have an agent.  The City of Titusville will lease and restore the smaller former FEC station on Pine Street.  In Melbourne, the original depot is gone, so the city is planning on a new station to be located in the historic downtown area.

    Amtrak service on the FEC is expected to begin within three years once a federal grant is awarded.

  • 22 Jun 2010 10:38 AM | Stephen Sayles (Administrator)

    An interesting article from Railway Age e-news sister publication Railway Track and Structures follows below.

    Of note, the $56B is for 975 route miles (no doubt double tracked, plus facilities, rolling stock etc.); a cost of $57 million per mile.  Now, all the materials and vehicles would be imported, but one would think the land and construction costs (labor) would be minimal.

    By comparison, the California HSR plan, the last I saw, was to cost $45B for about 800 route miles (double tracked), for a per mile cost of $56 million (wow, how about that).  By comparison, Florida's HSR project for 90 miles, is estimated at $2.5 billion, or $27 million per mile.  Even when one adds the supposed $1 billion value of the FL DOT right of way, you net a number of $38 million per mile.  Seems to me someone is wrong here.  If California is right, the FL Tampa-Orlando segment is more likely to cost from $3.5 to $5 billion.

    Jim Langston

  • 18 Jun 2010 11:17 AM | Jackson McQuigg (Administrator)

    Florida's high speed rail plans show stations at the Orlando International Airport and Miami International Airport, but not Tampa International Airport.

    Some members of the Tampa City Council want to change that:

    http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jun/17/city-council-members-push-high-speed-rail-tia/news-breaking/

    --Jackson McQuigg

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