New Rail Passenger Service

[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!

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

OIA! Which is why I said all along that HSR would fail even if it was built. Short on numbers they would have collapsed and done more damage to HSR then any wreck in China could.

Logic is all over the FECI and SE Florida corridor studies, hardly a page can be turned without the connection of rail and downtown comes into play, development, CITY CENTERS, rail gets you into town, not out in a glorified cow pasture. Everyone on the studies has been saying it over, and over, but when it comes to Orlando... OIA! OIA!

I suspect THIS is why it will hook into Sunrail, AND with state owned trackage, who's to say some stings might not be pulled to aim those trains right into central Orlando. Assuming of course that these folks decide this is REALLY a good investment.

[JeffreyS]

Spokesman for FECI on Progressive Railroading.

The studies under way also will help FECI determine train speeds. The company plans to operate trains at top speeds of 100 mph to 110 mph, says Barney.

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/high_speed_rail/news/Florida-East-Coast-Industries-to-develop-private-passengerrail-service--30360#

[fsujax]

I was able to confirm that this service will have no adverse impact on the proposed Jax to Miami Amtrak service. Two different markets are targeted and the FECI will be a much more robust service with trains pretty much operating all day.

[Ocklawaha]

Note to self, FECI is NOT excluding State funded right-of-way and construction! If it opens or breaks ground in 2014, it will be just in time to reelect Rick Scott. Anyone else smell a skunk?

A good leader... if possible, always present his demands to the vanquished in installments."
Adolf Hitler

[thelakelander]

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.

OIA is still a major player. Sunrail will just be extended to the airport's proposed intermodal center....just like HSR. I doubt this thing gets into DT Orlando.

[Ocklawaha]

http://www.youtube.com/v/5on_550h2bI?version=3&hl=en_US

Those critics of incremental High Speed Rail might want to take a step back from the track.

I believe CSX totally covered their selves as to existing freight customers, but if that area around the power plant blooms with FEC style distribution centers and warehousing, they could be off and running freight in no time at all.

Here's a OCK-TRANSLATION of the release for those that don't understand rail.

"All Aboard Florida offers a different approach," Barney said. "It will be privately owned, privately operated and privately maintained. There will be no risk to taxpayers."
http://www.ajc.com/travel/company-plans-train-between-1396239.html

"It will be privately owned" Yes, the company that actually runs the trains, but not the trains, track, right-of-way between Cocoa and Orlando, South of Cocoa these trains will operate over a private railroad under contract. .
"privately operated" Yes, the company that operates the trains will be private. In short a contract operator.
"privately maintained" Yes again, the FEC will take care of their track South of Cocoa, and might take care of the states track too... depending on the paycheck being large enough.

What I see this boils down to is what Lakelander and I said all along, this is a high density, frequent stop, corridor with some opportunities for non-stop or limited stop services (however such services defeats a large part of what rail is about). It's not the dumb HSR plan, rather the EXACT same track route, with HrSR conventional trains.

In the end this short corridor along with a Jax-Miami, Miami-Orlando-Tampa, Jax-Orlando-Tampa service will look very much like "Amtrak California". It's something I corresponded with the new governor about in detail shortly after his election, encouraging him to peruse this course and kill the bullet train. We are getting "Amtrak Florida" but with a decidedly Republican slant... A private operator, a mere paper management company to staff and run the trains.

You can bet this privately operated service will then be turned on Amtrak and the nation as a hammer to kill Amtrak by the Grand Old Party. It's all smoke and mirrors boys and girls because half of the commuter rail in the America's is already done this way. So though I fully agree with the concept being tested and used, I'll be watching the back door to see if these guys are going to try and twist this into some 'unique anti-Amtrak success story'. 

[thelakelander]

Speaking of corridor service, they hired Eugene Skoropowski out of retirement who ran the Capital Corridor in California to run the operation.

Recently FECI's Florida East Coast Railway appointed Eugene Skoropowski as Senior Vice President-Passenger Service Development, based in Orlando. Skoropowski's resume includes management positions at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and he also worked with Fluor Corp. on the HSL Zuid Project for Thalys high speed trains between Brussels and Amsterdam. He was the popular and effective head of the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority in California, where he skillfully balanced the needs of Amtrak's state-supported passenger services and those of the freight railroads they operated over. Now, Skoropowski's appointment is not such a mystery.

full article: http://railfan.com/railnews/

[thelakelander]

Skoropowski calls this the Capital Corridor of the East with a bigger market.  Trains would also operate on one hour headways.  They envision running a Miami to Cocoa train by 2014, even if the new segment to Orlando isn't complete.  This article also implies that the $1 billion cost may not be a hurdle for FECI. FECI's parent company, Fortress Investment Group has $43.7 billion in assets and raised $4.2 billion in capital last year.  It also owns 5,000 acres of land in Florida, nine of which are in downtown Miami that can be developed as TOD.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,2721261,2722298

[tufsu1]

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.

OIA is still a major player. Sunrail will just be extended to the airport's proposed intermodal center....just like HSR. I doubt this thing gets into DT Orlando.

correct...connections to downtown will be via SunRail or possibly a future light rail line.

sorry Ock but this is exactly the route HSR would have taken....and yes, FDOT was already looking for ways to link SunRail to HSR for several years, so the upcoming study is nothing new