A costly piece for Miami-Dade’s east-west route: CSX tracks

[thelakelander]

Miami-Dade County's low-budget solution to an east-west rail line may get hung up on a big-ticket necessity: spending hundreds of millions to purchase tracks now used for cargo.

In a letter to the county's transportation board, the CSX cargo company outlined a framework for considering a plan to run passenger rail on its tracks between Miami International Airport and the county's western suburbs. CSX's primary condition could prove costly: It wants Florida to purchase about 35 miles of track the company operates in western and southern Miami-Dade.

CSX negotiated a similar deal for Orlando's commuter line, SunRail. The 61-mile line — Central Florida's version of Tri-Rail —launched in 2014 after Florida acquired the CSX tracks for about $430 million. That price would translate to about $245 million for a 35-mile track.

That cost alone is more than double the $102 million price tag touted in a presentation last week by Miami-Dade Commissioner Esteban "Steve" Bovo.

Bovo, chairman of the commission's Transportation Committee, is the leading champion of the plan to finally deliver the east-west commuter rail promised to voters in 2002 when they approved a half-percent transit sales tax. While the initial promise contemplated an extension of the county's Metrorail service on a new line, Bovo's plan is considered a bargain because it would utilize existing cargo tracks.

CSX's demand to be compensated for its tracks was no surprise to Bovo and his staff, who have met privately with railroad executives throughout the year in developing the east-west proposal. But the July 23 letter from CSX executive Marco Turra to the county's Metropolitan Planning Organization is the first time CSX has publicly laid out how it might consider participating in Bovo's plan.

The letter did not say the company wanted to sell. But it said CSX would only consider Bovo's plan for an 11-mile passenger rail if Florida's Department of Transportation agreed to purchase not just the east-west route but a much larger stretch of track running south to Homestead.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article29895181.html#storylink=cpy

CSX's letter to Miami-Dade about using their tracks for a new commuter rail line:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article29896924.ece/BINARY/CSX's%20letter%20to%20a%20county%20transportation%20board%20regarding%20the%20possible%20use%20of%20its%20cargo%20rail%20line%20for%20commuter%20trains

[tufsu1]

^ question....the article mentions a per mile cost for SunRail and then says that would be $245 million for 35 miles.  How is that figure relevant to the track shown in the graphic from MIA to just west of the Turnpike, which is in the 10-12 mile range?

[acme54321]

The piece shown on the map is what they would use for the new line.  In the article though it said CSX wants the state to purchase their whole line down to Homestead which is where the 35 miles comes from.

[thelakelander]

SSP forum member marcvader's "dream transit scenario" shows the location of the line down to Homestead:



It branches off the line that Miami wants to use for commuter rail.

Full article: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=377403&page=366