Brightline ready to expand rail system to Tampa

[Tacachale]

Why are they letting Tri-Rail run on their tracks in Miami?  Seems like a lot more traffic than intercity rail.

Lol, yep.

[Ocklawaha]

Florida East Coast, Brightline-Virgin, Tri-Rail, all sharing track? Complaints? REALLY?

Certainly there will be a few operating bugs to work out but the future hold nothing but high green signals for this combination. While I don't expect Amtrak (if it even survives as is) to jump on the Daytona, Cocoa, Melbourne, Miami market, it's totally possible. Jacksonville not in the plan? Don't kid yourselves. Here's how I would sort this out:

Tri-Rail/Sunrail are Commuter Lines, nothing more. There is some likelihood that Sunrail might expand toward Tampa and St. Pete, as well as north to Jacksonville. NOTHING OFFICIAL, Just the old railroader looking at the rather obvious sprawl along that whole crescent, density + traffic + severe and growing congestion will demand it. Getting Tri-Rail, into Miami Central along the Virgin-FEC route is simply brilliant. Bring in several million locals annually into downtown and release them next to the hottest ride available to Fort Lauderdale, West Palm, Fort Pierce, Cocoa-Rockledge, Orlando, Lakeland, Tampa... So Tri-Rail, and Sunrail will feed the Intercity Trains of Virgin.

Virgin-All Aboard Florida Jacksonville Segment LLC-Flagler are, read my lips: DEVELOPERS!  They are the first private investors to seek the profit that municipalities around the globe have gained with TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT. in the past a developer such as the Ortega Company would build a Streetcar Line out to the newest community, the crowds followed and they sold homes and lots like hotcakes. Everywhere RAIL goes development follows. From Tampa's Streetcar to Kenosha to Kansas City to... New development swells tax revenues making all but the dumbest city quite a profit on its investment.

The new Florida development seeks to build that same rail line, but then develop the 'Town Centers' around it. They see it working like Publix... You wouldn't go to Publix if they didn't have shopping carts, so the carts are a value added to your experience. Likewise they are betting you won't want to live in Ponte Vedra if they can turn the old Union Terminal (Prime Osborn) into a gateway to a high rent village.

For these reasons Jacksonville doesn't have the mojo of a Miami, Tampa or Orlando, but change is coming. Pushing 2 Million in our Metro Area and being exactly the mid-way point between Miami and Atlanta bodes well for us in the future.

Complaints? Railroad's are in this for money, Amtrak, your track or my track they don't care, lets make a business deal... You do know that NORFOLK SOUTHERN (which ends in Jacksonville) owns trains that cross the river daily racing for it's intermodal center in Titusville, Florida... ON THE FLORIDA EAST COAST!

[Pottsburg]

Why are they letting Tri-Rail run on their tracks in Miami?  Seems like a lot more traffic than intercity rail.

Lol, yep.

First of all you're mistaken TriRail does not run on FEC or Brightline track. TriRail will connect to the Brightline station but run on their own tracks. So no one is clogging up FEC tracks except Brightline with their station which is on the Portlead track that runs separate from the Hialeah yard. The only freight that runs on the portlead is the stuff that comes out of the port of Miami.
Second from West Palm to Jax the majority of the track is single. Unlike south of West Palm which is now double track the whole way. If Amtrak ran from Jax to Miami it would clog up the single track preventing freight from moving freely. I know to the common person it seems like a small burden but it's not. Dispatchers have to move freight up and down the track all day and night plus you have local trains working industries in different cities. Certain trains are more important than others so they can't stop, they have to keep moving to meet customer demands. If Amtrak smokes someone at a crossing and is held there clogging up the only track then freight stops, not only does it stop it backs up. Then you have a 2 mile train that needs to get through but can't proceed because he is too long to sit on the siding that is ahead so he is held 50 miles before the accident. Then here comes another mile and a half train but he has to sit 50 miles the other direction. You see the problem?

[thelakelander]

Tri-Rail's Coastal Link on the FEC corridor is scheduled to start later this year: https://www.miamitodaynews.com/2018/08/07/tri-rail-targets-third-quarter-2019-runs-downtown-miami/

[Tacachale]

Tri-Rail's Coastal Link on the FEC corridor is scheduled to start later this year: https://www.miamitodaynews.com/2018/08/07/tri-rail-targets-third-quarter-2019-runs-downtown-miami/

Womp womp

[Pottsburg]

Tri-Rail's Coastal Link on the FEC corridor is scheduled to start later this year: https://www.miamitodaynews.com/2018/08/07/tri-rail-targets-third-quarter-2019-runs-downtown-miami/

Womp womp

I hope this Womp womp wasn't for a I proved you wrong cause it clearly says in the article "Downtown Miami Link, funding 26 trains and nine miles of new rail infrastructure. The 450-person capacity of each train will provide a one-seat ride to and from downtown Miami.
Construction of the Tri-Rail portion is to be finished by September, according to South Florida Regional Transportation Authority Executive Director Jack Stephens."  9 miles of new track is TriRail track not FEC track. The 9 miles will go into the Brightline station on its own separate track that they control/own/are responsible for. I mean hell the title of the article says it too, "link" is your key flash word. It will link with the Brightline station. NO TriRail train are running on FEC tracks period! If you think that they are then you're just ignorant to the facts. TriRail will pull into the station on its own tracks.

[thelakelander]

Ok, you're getting into semantics now. One would assume if you added passenger rail to the corridor, that would include upgrading the infrastructure for the needed capacity....just like what was done with SunRail and Tri-Rail and typically any other new rail service.

[Pottsburg]

Why are they letting Tri-Rail run on their tracks in Miami?  Seems like a lot more traffic than intercity rail.

I don't know if it's semantics if I'm just pointing out that what you wrote was factually incorrect. See the quote above. Now if you want to assume that FEC went double track the whole corridor (which will hopefully be completed up to cocoa when the BL project is finished) yes you would need something like another party to come in and upgrade the track. Now if Amtrak said here's $500 million of federal money to make your track double then yes maybe one day Amtrak would run on the FEC corridor. As for right now Grupo (FEC owners) have no reason to spend the money to upgrade that. I'm more interested and hopeful they buy the CSX track for sale that runs to Pensacola. That's what gets me excited.

[thelakelander]

Yes I assumed we're smart enough here to know that there would be capacity upgrades to track on FEC's ROW to accommodate the extra traffic. We've been having these types of discussions where since the forum went live in 2005. Every past FEC passenger rail related project proposed included track capacity improvements on FEC property.

[bl8jaxnative]

What's the over / under in Vegas on Brightline Virgin Trains USA going belly up by the end of 2019?  2020?

[Pottsburg]

If they don't get the $900 million they want then I bet they liquidate

[thelakelander]

Regarding Grupo, why would they want CSX's line through the Panhandle? Why does CSX want to get rid of it? Is it profitable? Are there any big industrial customers on that stretch?

[Pottsburg]

Well it would give them a strangle hold on the state. They already have all the ports on the east coast. CSX has access to Miami but it's very limited. There's nothing too big out there, but it gets them a lot closer to the border. Also they own a rail ferry that goes between Mexico and Mobile. It would get them very close to that. CSX has had it for sale for a while but the want too much money for it. It's in horrible shape and there are major problem that need to be addressed in order to raise the track speed. They almost had a buyer but they backed out last min. Word is they found out how bad the condition of the track was and how much money they would have had to spend.

[acme54321]

Well it would give them a strangle hold on the state. They already have all the ports on the east coast. CSX has access to Miami but it's very limited. There's nothing too big out there, but it gets them a lot closer to the border. Also they own a rail ferry that goes between Mexico and Mobile. It would get them very close to that. CSX has had it for sale for a while but the want too much money for it. It's in horrible shape and there are major problem that need to be addressed in order to raise the track speed. They almost had a buyer but they backed out last min. Word is they found out how bad the condition of the track was and how much money they would have had to spend.

All of the ports on the east cost? 

[thelakelander]

^basically West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Not Jax or the much larger east coast ports north of Jax.