Central Florida Commuter Rail Deal may help Jacksonville
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/images/cfrail/24690149.jpg)
CSX Transportation recently announced an agreement in principal to sell 61 miles of the A-Line, from DeLand to Poinciana, to the State of Florida for a proposed Central Florida Commuter Rail operation. The railroad plans to divert most freight traffic away from Orlando and onto the parallel S-Line, which runs from Baldwin to Plant City. Most freight traffic through Jacksonville will be sent to Baldwin, and then continue south on the S-Line to central Florida.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/165
I really hope someone at JTA is reading this. Running commuter rail from Orange Park to Fleming Island accesses points where the Westside BRT line will never reach. On top of that, its millions of dollars cheaper, especially since CSX will be reducing freight traffic along this corridor.
We should be calling his office. Someone needs to give this guy a swift kick in the pants. It is like the blind leading the blind over there.
Director of External Affairs
Mike Miller
(904) 630-3109
This is a good reason to \"change directions\" and scrap BRT.
With the reduced traffice on the \"A\" Line through Jax, city owned track through Springfield on the northside, and a good chance for a deal with our new Jacksonville resident company FEC, the majority of MetroJacksonville\'s proposed system is accounted for. Next would be deals with CSX (another Jacksonville company) to service the northside through to Fernandina. This is a very real thing and should be investigated. The potential savings should be enough of reason.
We need to develop the rail system with solid incorporated end points anchored in towns that not only have some population, but also have access to State and Federal dollars to aid in their own transit development. In other words, a commuter rail system needs to run from more then a cross street or shopping center, these make good local stops but for end points we should look to St. Augustine (FEC), Fernandina (CSX and FC), St.Marys/Kings Bay (CSX,FC,STM), Callahan/Hillard (CSX), Fargo (NS), Baldwin (CSX), Green Cove Springs (CSX).
As the CSX pulls back from the "A" line we have the opportunity for service perhaps as far as Palatka. In other cities it is common for commuter rail to reach out 75 miles from the City center. If we had a dozen trains each in the morning and evening from Jacksonville to Flemming Island Station, then perhaps 3 each should go on to Green Cove Springs, with one morning and one evening train all the way to Palatka. Another possibility is a regional pseudo-commuter train from downtown Gainesville to downtown Jacksonville. This would use only a short section of CSX´s "S" line, then branch off at Starke for Alachua and Gainesville. This way we pull in not only the daily commuter, but also the business traveler and student.