Brevard: How to Kill All Aboard Florida?

[thelakelander]

I came across this article in the Florida Today. It's one of the more informative articles from the perspective of those who don't want the system built.

Matt Reed: Can Brevard slow this fast train?

More people who live near or commute across the Florida East Coast railroad tracks are confronting leaders with this question:

How can we use politics, bureaucracy and environmental regulations to force the private All Aboard Florida venture into changing — or even quitting — plans to run express passenger trains through Brevard?

The only possibility seems to be to threaten the company's application for a Federal Railroad Administration loan for a yet-to-be-disclosed sum. Approval requires All Aboard Florida to show it will comply with 26 federal regulations, complete an environmental-impact study and undergo a public-comment period.

Gov. Rick Scott said as much in a letter to All Aboard Florida on Monday. He cited "questions and concerns" about the planned Miami-to-Orlando service. And he called on the subsidiary of powerful Florida East Coast Industries to "please be sensitive to the impact of additional rail traffic ... to our communities, their home values and public safety."

Because the project will receive no legislative or congressional funding, and the company already owns the tracks, the state has no power to stop it, Scott acknowledged. But he requested an additional 15 days for public comment. And he vowed to send feedback from neighborhoods to railroad officials in Washington "to better enable federal officials to do what's best for Florida families."

I'm sure that message went over well. The company already has met more than 500 times with groups representing homeowners, businesses, environmentalists and local governments, President Michael Reininger told Scott in a letter Tuesday. It plans to invest $1.5 billion of its own.

full article: http://www.floridatoday.com/story/opinion/columnists/matt-reed/2014/06/13/matt-reed-can-brevard-slow-fast-train/10493047/

[spuwho]

They are definitely taking a political attack against the FRA loan.

The other angle is going after the bridges, some of which have not changed much sine the 1920's.

Scott made some other announcements which came out this past week on the issue which I will post later.

[carpnter]

Isn't much of the opposition based on the amount of time that roads will be blocked and the bridges will be closed to boat traffic?  I don't know how much time during the day that people are inconvenienced now with freight traffic, but 32 additional trips sounds like a significant increase in traffic.  Of course if these are relatively short trains it may not make much of a difference.  I'd really like these articles to share facts like how long a crossing/bridge would be closed and the frequency which it would occur.

[acme54321]

If they hadn't of abandoned the Kissimee Valley Line they wouldn't be having these problems.

[Ocklawaha]

True Acme, but then a passenger train running from: Bithlo south to, Pocataw, Wewahotee, Narcoossee, Salofka, Tohopkee, Holopaw, Illahaw, Nittaw, Kenansville, Apoxsee, Lokosee, Yeehaw, Osawa, Fort Drum, Hilo, Efal, Opal, Okeechobee and... ?? May not be on most peoples agendas. Running non-stop from West Palm to OIA via the old Kissimmee Valley Subdivision is still doable, as most of these towns are ghosts, and the right-of-way is still intact, but don't expect the train anytime soon in Kenansville. But watch what would happen if they decided to revisit this old FEC route, every village on the east coast would be screaming bloody murder that they were being bypassed by Flagler's unfair railroad!

[tufsu1]

the simple way for AAF to solve these issues is to have express trains and local trains...and have local trains stop at least once in Martin, Indian River, St. Lucie, and Brevard counties.

[thelakelander]

^Or just cater to some of the safety concerns and move forward.  I really don't see a way for them to stop AAF, if AAF and FECI really want to move forward with plans to add passenger rail within their own ROW.

[tufsu1]

They still have to complete an environmental impact statement.  There will be increased noise, vibration, and traffic impacts.  The needed approvals (plus the Federal loan) gives an opening to those trying to delay/block the project.

[spuwho]

The issues come down to a few items.

1. Repetition of 30 passenger trains
2. Along with anticipated additional freight traffic due to deepening Miami port
3. Additional repetition causes emergency access delays for those who reside between the RR and the waterfront
4. Navigational hazards caused by drawbridge cycles
5. Noise, vibration from 30 additional trains
6. Horn blowing in non "Quiet Zones"

The areas where there has been some irrational behavior:
1. Demands for no tax subsidies or any public financial support for any aspect of the service
2. Demands that either FEC, FDOT or FRA should pay for all upgraded crossings for quiet zones
3. Attempts to have service relocated to CSX line

The "tax subsidy" argument is odd because while the demand that no public dollars be shoveled to support a private effort (we do this for airlines everyday) the same argument is made for a public subsidy to pay for upgraded crossings which by law is a local expense. So while the concern about using tax dollars to subsidize operations is valid, the desire to have someone else pay for what is by law a local responsibility comes off as contradictory at times.

Gov Scott has requested extended public review periods for both the environmental reviews and the review of the FRA Loan application.

AAF has agreed to many things in response to the issues raised.

1. Use local bridge control for drawbridge in areas where marine traffic is high
2. Upgrade many crossings at their own expense (but not quiet zone)
3. Agreed to extend the environmental review period to give all parties ample time for feedback
4. Currently is negotiating a non compete clause with Tri Rail (along with some shared capacity options)

AAF has refused to respond to several demands made by the opposition.

1. Full public review of the AAF business plans
2. Disclosure on how new rail from FRA loan will be used to support Miami freight traffic
3. How much freight traffic will increase once AAF is operational

Based on some recent calculations, in towns where AAF will not have a station, the 30 additional trains will add a total 22 minutes of crossing blockage daily. Less in towns where the trains will cross at the same time.

AAF has been sending information updates on a more frequent basis lately to counteract some of the inaccurate assertions being tossed around by the opposition.

[acme54321]

True Acme, but then a passenger train running from: Bithlo south to, Pocataw, Wewahotee, Narcoossee, Salofka, Tohopkee, Holopaw, Illahaw, Nittaw, Kenansville, Apoxsee, Lokosee, Yeehaw, Osawa, Fort Drum, Hilo, Efal, Opal, Okeechobee and... ?? May not be on most peoples agendas. Running non-stop from West Palm to OIA via the old Kissimmee Valley Subdivision is still doable, as most of these towns are ghosts, and the right-of-way is still intact, but don't expect the train anytime soon in Kenansville. But watch what would happen if they decided to revisit this old FEC route, every village on the east coast would be screaming bloody murder that they were being bypassed by Flagler's unfair railroad!

Yep.

In the end if this thing actually happens and is successful I can see them adding a few trains a day that stop in some of the counties that are currently not served. 

[spuwho]

I received this update from AAF the other day.


Yesterday, Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Department of Transportation set the record straight about several misconceptions that have been circulating about funding for All Aboard Florida. Governor Scott also penned a letter to President and Chief Development Officer Mike Reininger, encouraging All Aboard Florida to have a more detailed conversation with affected stakeholders. We invite you to read our response on our website, as we are committed to delivering the safest and most successful passenger rail system in America.

As always, please contact us if you have any questions.

Thank you,

All Aboard Florida Management Team

[spuwho]

Well AAF is sticking their neck out today on Wall Street.

Any investment gurus want to comment on the 12 percent, 5 year PIK's they put out?

Per Bloomberg:

All Aboard Florida Sells $405 Million of Debt for Railway

All Aboard Florida, a unit of Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG), issued $405 million of debt to help finance a high-speed railway along the state's eastern coast over the opposition of some local residents.

AAF Holdings LLC sold 12 percent, five-year bonds with a payment-in-kind toggle option, which allows interest to be paid in additional notes, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The PIKs, one of the riskiest forms of debt, yielded 10.25 percentage points more than similar-maturity Treasuries. AAF increased the offering from $390 million previously marketed.

The company applied for a $1.6 billion loan from the Federal Railroad Administration, according to Lauren Dunaj, a spokeswoman for All Aboard Florida who works for Finn Partners.

The railway, estimated to cost more than $2 billion, would link Miami to Orlando with transit times of less than three hours, according to the project's website. Orlando and Miami are the top tourist destinations in Florida. The train will also stop at downtown locations in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, population centers with international airports.

The train will speed past smaller, less-affluent towns and cities along Florida's east coast without stopping. Some jurisdictions, including Port St. Lucie and Martin County, have passed resolutions against the project, saying it will create noise and traffic problems.

Florida's Republican Governor, Rick Scott, sent letters to All Aboard Florida and the Federal Railroad Administration last week asking for more time for public input before the project is approved.

Fortress, the first publicly traded private-equity and hedge-fund manager in the U.S., acquired All Aboard Florida's parent company, Florida East Coast Industries Inc., for $2.65 billion in July 2007, Bloomberg data show.

[spuwho]

At the same time, their Miami station design goes before a county committee to make sure they are addressing all of the issues.

http://www.miamitodaynews.com/2014/06/18/aboard-florida-station-plans-reviewed/

All Aboard Florida station plans reviewed

To keep plans for a downtown Miami train station on track, All Aboard Florida is to address concerns for the station's design, maintenance and connectivity to surrounding developments.

A review committee, comprised of about a dozen county staffers and three City of Miami representatives, has set conditions All Aboard Florida is to meet before the committee sends its recommendation to the county commission, which has final say.

The committee could potentially have the power of derailing the project as the county can only override a negative recommendation with a supermajority vote. City of Miami representatives' say carries particular weight – if they don't like the project, the committee is to send a 'nay' recommendation.

The city has asked All Aboard Florida to address concerns with station plans.

"This is a gateway to Miami. We want to make sure that this is a showcase," Miami Zoning Administrator Irene Hegedus, who sits on the review committee, told Miami Today.

All Aboard Florida has revealed plans where train tracks escalate onto a 50-foot viaduct.

The city is concerned about soot accumulating on the viaduct from the diesel-powered trains. Dealing with the dirt, Ms. Hegedus said, comes down to using the right materials and implementing a maintenance plan.

The city wants to make sure that the viaduct crosses atop Northwest Eighth Street – an already busy thoroughfare only to become more congested with upcoming development – in a way that is conducive to vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

"We want to see the spacing of the columns, the height, the clearances, the overall approach," Ms. Hegedus said.

And, she added, the city will examine the station's connectivity – to the east and to the west.

At a committee meeting Friday, All Aboard Florida vowed to address concerns and coordinate with the county and the city.

"We are studying both at-grade connections and if possible above-grade connections," said Olin McKenzie, associate director of station architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.

An above-grade connection, such as a sky bridge, would be more likely to stretch from the station east toward the upcoming WorldCenter development.

County staffers on the review committee had no objections but had conditions for All Aboard Florida – from meeting with community advocacy groups to address station effects on the homeless to providing seamless connectivity between the train station and the nearby Metrorail and Metromover.

"You are going to have fare-paid areas and free areas. You don't want to pinch yourself in a corner and have a pedestrian bridge only reachable if you pay," Jeff Cohen, of the Public Works and Waste Management Department, told All Aboard Florida.

Mr. McKenzie said there's to be connectivity between Metrorail and All Aboard Florida at Northwest Third Street. Connections on the northern part of the station require more studies, he added.

Aside from Ms. Hegedus, Commissioner Marc Sarnoff and Planning and Zoning Director Francisco Garcia represent Miami on the review committee.

The committee is to make its recommendation, likely through a vote, on July 2, and the county commission is to consider the item later that month.

[spuwho]

NPR was even featuring AAF this morning.

http://www.npr.org/2014/06/17/322800338/florida-s-new-regional-rail-service-raises-residents-concerns

Copyright © 2014 NPR.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

In Florida, plans are in place to start construction soon on an express passenger line linking Miami with Orlando. The new rail line is being built by a private company - no taxpayer money is involved - and it's a cause for celebration in the big urban areas on both ends. But in the middle, the towns where the trains will pass through, there is concern about the negatives. From Miami, NPR's Greg Allen has the story.

DAN ALLEN: The rail new service is called All Aboard Florida. Using mostly existing track, the company says it will run 16 trains a day, each way, between Miami and Orlando. At a news conference to unveil plans for a station in downtown Miami, mayor Tomas Regalado was ecstatic.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

MAYOR TOMAS REGALADO: This will be a game changer.

ALLEN: The train promises to do something long envisioned, connect the heavily populated South with fast-growing Central Florida. Florida East Coast Railway was founded more than 100 years ago by one of the state's first developers Henry Flagler, whose railroad ran from Jackson to Key West. Since the late '60s, the railroad has just carried freight. The CEO Vincent Signorello says in returning to passenger rail the old Flagler railroad is, once again, making history.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

VINCENT SIGNORELLO: This will be the first time a private company in the United States has developed an intercity passenger rail service in more than a century.

ALLEN: For people in Orlando and South Florida, it's a double win - a passenger rail connection that will provide jobs, transportation and an economic boost and doesn't rely on taxpayers. But communities in between South Florida and Orlando see the new passenger line differently.

MAYOR ABBY BRENNAN: It would have a very significant impact on public safety - that is our biggest concern.

ALLEN: Abby Brennan the is the mayor of Tequesta, a village about 20 miles north of the closest proposed rail station in West Palm Beach. The trail and cuts the town in half. Residence and the town police and fire crews have to cross the tracks to get to stores, schools and the local hospital. Brennan says he constituents are worried about the increased train traffic.

BRENNAN: Currently, we have 14 freight trains are running. We are looking at the possibility of another 32 fast trains, and we are pretty sure that there will be an increase in freight.

ALLEN: Some 500 people concerned about the trains' impact jammed into a Baptist Church in Tequesta recently. Jim Sprankel is a golf course superintendent.

JIM SPRANKEL: I commute across the tracks two or three times a day. My children go to school over the tracks. Everything we do we have to cross the tracks.

ALLEN: Because All Aboard Florida is a private venture, it's been slow to release details. Their suspicion here that the passenger service is cover for another goal - to improve tracks along the old rail line to accommodate increased freight traffic. Jim Sprankel.

SPRANKEL: We don't know much about exactly the traffic - the amount of cars they're going to have.

ALLEN: They're saying 32 trains a day, is that...

SPRANKEL: Yeah, that's - how do you fill the seats? I don't know. We have Amtrak system in place, and they can't fill the seats.

ALLEN: In Tequesta, there are three roads that cross the train tracks, but here in the north end of town is what people are most concerned about. It's a train drawbridge over the Loxahatchee River. It's old, rusty and when it malfunctions, Mayor Brennan says it brings the town to a standstill.

BRENNAN: When it can't lock down for a train to go over, one freight train can block all three, and the only exits, to the east.

ALLEN: Have you seen that in the past?

BRENNAN: It happened two months ago, and it was over two hours.

ALLEN: The concerns voiced here, and in other communities along Florida's east coast, prompted Florida governor Rick Scott, recently, to step in. He's calling on the company to meet with residents and share with them their plans for bridge crossings including the one over the Loxahatchee. The company says some of the concerns and communities along the coast are the result of misinformation. All Aboard Florida president, Michael Reininger says he's

confident that even towns without stations with see economic benefits from the new train line.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MICHAEL REININGER: The population of this state grew up immediately along and because of the infrastructure backbone that was represented by that railroad so has, in no small part, been responsible for Florida as it exists today.

ALLEN: All Aboard Florida plans to begin construction soon and starts operating trains in 2016. As the project moves forward, communities like Tequesta are being reminded of a simple but important piece of Florida history - the train was here first. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.

Copyright © 2014 NPR.

[finehoe]

Henry Flagler, whose railroad ran from Jackson to Key West

I hope this is just a typo in the transcript and that they didn't say "Jackson" on the air.