Per the Sun-Sentinel:
According to the report, this will facilitate restored Amtrak service to Jacksonville.
Deal to ease freight train backups, expand Tri-Rail service
Commuters stuck behind lengthy freight trains will get a break under a deal that would also pave the way for Tri-Rail to begin service to Jupiter and down the coast to downtown Miami.
Federal officials on Thursday announced they are kicking in $13.75 million toward the $47.25 million cost of connecting the Florida East Coast Railway and Tri-Rail in Hialeah and West Palm Beach. The state and three rail entities have already agreed to pay for the rest of it.
The connections potentially would allow some freight trains leaving Miami to switch to the Tri-Rail tracks, which affect 72 crossings from Miami to West Palm Beach, compared with more than 200 crossings on the FEC.
Drivers have long complained about delays from FEC freight trains at crossings, many of which are in congested downtowns along the coast.
State officials said they expect construction to begin after environmental studies are completed, with the rail links partially open by July 2015 and fully completed by January 2017.
"This is something that we've been contemplating for decades," said Fred Wise, the Florida Department of Transportation's rail manager. "We've been looking at [using rails] in an optimum way for both freight and passenger service, but we never could quite come together."
FEC Vice President Robert Ledoux said linking the two rail lines will provide additional capacity to move freight from the Port of Miami and Port Everglades.
And the FEC tracks will open up more capacity for Tri-Rail, as well as a proposed private passenger rail service between Miami and Orlando.
All Aboard Florida hopes to begin running 32 trains a day in early 2016, with stops in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando International Airport.
In West Palm Beach, the two rail lines are currently linked north of downtown with a section of track that requires trains to back up into the other tracks. The new connection would greatly ease the switch, allowing Tri-Rail to expand to Jupiter.
That can't be done now because Tri-Rail's tracks curve northwest toward Orlando after Mangonia Park, its northernmost stop.
Tri-Rail has proposed splitting its existing service into three trains. One would connect to the FEC via a rail spur in Pompano Beach and continue to downtown Miami. A second would run from downtown Fort Lauderdale to Jupiter on the FEC tracks. A third would start at Tri-Rail's existing Boca Raton station and continue south on Tri-Rail's tracks to Miami International Airport.
Use of the FEC tracks would also allow Amtrak to run up the coast to Jacksonville.
Here is a website for the studies that are leading to this effort
http://www.sfeccstudy.com/
Quote from: tufsu1 on September 06, 2013, 08:45:53 AM
Here is a website for the studies that are leading to this effort
http://www.sfeccstudy.com/
Excellent, thanks tufsu1.
(http://www.sfeccstudy.com/images/SFECCTA-Revised-Simple-Location-Map-fullres.jpg)