New Rail Passenger Service

[Doctor_K]

Ok so they're just doing stops in ORL, WPB, FTL, and MIA?  How about all of the in-betweens like (Historic) Cocoa Village, (Historic Downtown) Melbourne, Vero, PSL, and the like?

I can't imagine they'd just bypass them/ignore them altogether?

[thelakelander]

They never said where the stops would be located.  That information hasn't been released at this point.  I can't imagine they wouldn't have a stop in the vicinity of Port Canaveral.

[Doctor_K]

Exactly.  That would tap into the tourism industry right there, and would feed potentially from OIA and points south.

Tie together probably two major airports (MCO and MIA), multiple mostly-historic *and walkable* districts (Cocoa, Rockledge, Eau Gallie/Melbourne), a port or two (Canaveral and Miami, depending on the terminus), and a regional airport (MLB), and you've got yourself something.

I wonder how or if it would or could eventually tie in to TriRail?

[Ocklawaha]

Rail along the Bee Line/Beach Line Turnpike has been a dream even prior to HSR. The 'old route' was going to be highway 50 and the State nearly funded it until environmentalist slammed the door with concerns over the St. Johns headwaters.

As for abandoned right-of-way, the FEC has been in the neighborhood before, but keep in mind Orlando was a tiny citrus town and Kissimmee was the heart of the Florida cattle business. Thing's have changed a bit.


Central Florida - 1926

The old FEC route came out of New Smyrna Beach, one line went to
New Smyrna-Satsuma-Lake Helen-Orange City.
another
New Smyrna (actually Oak Hill) to Maytown-Osceola-Chuluota-Holopaw-Nittaw-Yehaw-Okeechobee
another
Titusville-Maytown-Enterprise-Benson Junction-(Sanford via Joint track)

Doesn't look like any of this will play into the scheme just yet, however it is remotely possible that the former New Smyrna-Maytown-Osceola segment might play a part, there is also an idea for a freight bypass around Orlando. The FEC might be playing to all of these 'incentives' New Smyrna-Osceola puts them with a couple of miles of Oviedo-UCF. CSX has/had a line from Sanford to Oviedo which is somewhat cut back today, however preserved as a rail trail. One of the expressed purposes of the rail trail program is to preserve right-of-way for future transportation use.

This is very cool but not totally unexpected.

OCKLAWAHA

[thelakelander]

I doubt they are looking at anything seriously other than laying track on Beach Line ROW.  They are basically tying the dead HSR corridor into their existing network.  Anything else, and you're expense of acquiring ROW and working it into Central Florida destinations will cost a lot more than the $1 billion estimated for their entire project.

I guess they looked at those HSR numbers and realized that a modified corridor service with conventional technology (the thing we said Amtrak should have done) makes sense financially.

[acme54321]

Looks like it would be really hard to run the train along the ROW of the Beeline between the FEC tracks and the St Johns.  You've got lots of building on either side of the road and the road passes over 3 others in that stretch, icluding I-95.  I'd assume that those intersections would have to be reworked to get I-95 over the train. 

Seems like sneaking out of Brevard between Port St John and Cocoa might be easier for that stretch, or to the north pf Port St John.  According to the property appraiser Flagler Development (FEC) owns the two long skinny parcels in the middle of this map: http://g.co/maps/3xj6j

[thelakelander]

It's a straight shot if you use the Bee Line's median.  That's the same ROW that was considered for the second leg of HSR from Orlando to Miami.

[Ocklawaha]

Actually, the map on close inspection shows the line coming off the FEC slightly north of Cocoa. A route like that might use an alignment that compliments the NASA branch.

Either way I suspect The Beachline Turnpike is where the tracks would end up. Just pointing out they did own a bunch of land and right of ways in that territory at one time. Keep in mind Lee Cypress had a mill at both Osceola and Holopaw, both served by the FEC track until the end of WWII. Lee had their own railroads that stretched far off into the woods in virtually every direction from each of these points, so if your shopping for a railroad right-of-way, this area is a buffet.

[JeffreyS]

I like some of the facts at the end of the Miami Herald story.

The company said All Aboard Florida passenger rail service will include business- and coach-class service with advance purchase reserved seating, gourmet meals and wireless Internet. Stations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando will have transfers to Metrorail, Metromover or SunRail, allowing passengers to reach their final destination.

The company said it would be working in depth with local, state and federal officials, as well as the communities along the route. It the coming months, it will perform ridership, engineering and environmental studies.

FECI, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a major owner and developer of real estate and transportation-related businesses within Florida.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/22/2708219/company-plans-train-between-miami.html#storylink=cpy

[Ocklawaha]

Just checked some maps, looks like FEC still owns 'an escape route' which peels away from the mainline in Titusville, just north of the station which (miracle) is still standing, and heads northeast into Volusia toward Maytown. So though the likely thing here is some sort of up the sleeve deal by Rick Scott who might bring to the table some sort of sweeping change ability to get this planned, engineered, approved and built in that time-frame. Any involvement with the State, NASA, and Port Canaveral would likely use the previously mentioned possible routes on the Beach Line and/or SR 50.

[tufsu1]

the local FDOT District in Orlando will be issuing a study soon for transit connecting SunRail to the airport....would tie in real neatly if this private service followed the Beachline.

[Ocklawaha]

Love the part about a connection with Sunrail, which means it goes BEYOND OIA to a connected terminus... Here all along I thought this was about OIA. LOL!

[thelakelander]

Maytown is well out of the way of Disney, the airport, and I-Drive.

[JeffreyS]

Love the part about a connection with Sunrail, which means it goes BEYOND OIA to a connected terminus... Here all along I thought this was about OIA. LOL!

Yes this seems like there is some private company logic behind it.

[Ocklawaha]

Maytown is well out of the way of Disney, the airport, and I-Drive.

Correct but a turn west at I-95 and Aurantia Road isn't too bad.