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Topic Title: Florida East Coast Railway plans private passenger service, Miami-Orlando Topic Summary: In 2 years Created On: 03/22/2012 06:00 PM Status: Post and Reply |
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03/22/2012 06:00 PM
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Florida East Coast Industries, Inc. (The Florida East Coast Railway) dropped a passenger-rail bomb today. They're planning to run private express passenger trains connecting Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando in about two years. That includes building 40 miles of new track from Cocoa to Orlando. There's no formal word, but I would bet that the Orlando station will be at Orlando International Airport, which had been hoping to build an intermodal air-rail terminal serving the now-cancelled Tampa-Orlando high speed passenger line. |
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03/22/2012 07:13 PM
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Interesting...
http://www.allaboardflorida.com/announcements (3) ENSURE SPEED AND RELIABILITY - travel time between regions will be approximately three hours and train service will be frequent throughout the day; (4) PROTECT EXISTING FREIGHT CAPACITY - the new passenger service will not affect freight capacity in the rail corridor, thereby supporting Florida's role in international commerce and allowing more intermodal freight movements. 3 hours is about the same as by car, but by sharing infrastructure and routes (and maybe even vehicles) with freight, they might be able to keep the cost down. ------------------------- That boy's got somethin' wrong with his medulla oblongata. |
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03/22/2012 07:56 PM
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The project is a gross violation of the notion that passenger rail can't be profitable. FEC has been collaborating in studies of extending Amtrak local service from Jacksonville to Miami as well as local rail on its tracks from Miami to West Palm Beach or Jupiter. Its tracks are closer to the coast than the tracks used by Tri Rail. FEC has a unique history in that it got rid of the unions in the 1960s and has had low operating costs ever since. Their parent company knows a lot about the value of real estate, and the public info mentions development near terminals. Orlando Sentinel story says the rail company made a few courtesy calls before its announcement, but for the most part simply allowed everyone to be surprised. No deals have been made with Orlando Airport or Disney. Edited: 03/23/2012 at 12:41 AM by ww |
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03/23/2012 06:04 AM
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The project is a gross violation of the notion that passenger rail can't be profitable. Well, it's not profitable yet... 
It does help that they already own 200 miles of prime ROW, and can share existing infrastructure. The alternate route may also help. 110 mph is not too shabby for existing rail! I can't remember, but it seems like the Orlando/Tampa state proposal was on the order of $2.4 billion. If FEC job goes 240 miles for $1 billion, it's 3x longer and 60% cheaper total, or 6x cheaper per mile. That could also help with the profitability. ------------------------- That boy's got somethin' wrong with his medulla oblongata. |
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03/23/2012 07:51 AM
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The FEC proposal is for non high speed, but although its track is a century old (the railroad arrived at Vero in 1895), it was very well laid out and tends to be very straight. Here's a story about Orlando International Airport wanting to build its long-planned second terminal, and wanting to have some sort of rail service to it. |
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03/30/2012 11:21 PM
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Amtrak is also getting into the passenger rail thing, with a route from Miami to Jacksonville, including 3 stops in Brevard.
They see it as complementary to FEC instead of competitive. Florida Today ------------------------- That boy's got somethin' wrong with his medulla oblongata. |
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03/31/2012 08:08 AM
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I gotta say, this is long overdue. I took Amtrak from Seattle to Vancouver a few years ago and it was an altogether pleasant experience. Equivalent to First Class flying with no TSA.
Rail is the cheapest per-mile transportation available, so hopefully they will offer very competitive rates. With free Wifi that would be a big plus for frequent business travellers. |
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03/31/2012 08:59 AM
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I think rail will make a huge comeback in the post-affordable-fossil-fuels era.
------------------------- Learn something. Anything. Please. |
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04/01/2012 12:02 PM
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Here's what looks like an informed story at International Business Times. Via National Review. |
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