AAF Files Court Documents For Extension To Jacksonville

[thelakelander]

This (originally $180 million)..




or this ($150 million.....most likely excludes the towers)...




No offense to anyone local, but I would be interested in seeing what AAF's crew would do with the JRTC site, if they had their way.

[taylormiller]

I'm pretty sure AAF would put the Jax terminal downtown especially with how they seem to be focusing on business travelers.  Since travelers could easily take the Skyway to a handful of hotels downtown, no car needed! 

Instead of building a new transportation center, what if they looked at revitalizing the Prime Osborn? I know just about everyone in Jax would like to see it up and running again - and if the AAF is all it's hyped up to be, it could dramatically change downtown.

[thelakelander]

If they come to Jax, it will most likely be the Prime Osborn. Lots of land, center of  town, intermodal accessibility, and right next to their tracks.

[ProjectMaximus]

Fwiw, one of the guys on the AAF team used to work for CSX and lived in Riverside so he knows downtown Jacksonville and the Prime Osborne situation quite well. He was always confident about the Jax extension. I could ask him for more details but just haven't gotten around to it.

[Ocklawaha]

But then again... Considering their Orlando Terminus, a new station and development in Bayard is not out of the question! Just Saying!'

I believe the Amtrak thing is going to be M/L as Amtrak planned all along, however Amtrak will certainly be stopping in all of the coastal towns AAF blows through. Also look for Amtrak to split the trains in Jax again, YES DOWNTOWN and that is going to be another driver for the old Jacksonville Terminal site. Amtrak will send the Orlando-Tampa sections down the 'A' line along Roosevelt, and the Miami trains down the FEC. The losers in this will be Lake Wales, Sebring and Okeechobee, unless the state steps in with a state run train which given their record is unlikely.

St. Augustine is the FEC RY's ancestral home and would be very hard for them to miss, add to that 6 Million visitors a year is nothing to sneeze at.

I expect AAF to go interstate once the JAX extension is done, so they can interline ticketing with Amtrak (assuming Amtrak survives). The Joint operating deal with Norfolk Southern may also play a huge part in a JAX expansion, as the next segment would be Atlanta. Frankly I worry about JAX being able to fill many seats, though I don't expect anything like the frequency of the Orlando-Miami service, unless/until Atlanta is added. Amtrak's biggest obstacle is going to be survival in the retaliation against the Democrats in the next two elections.

ProjectMaximus, was that H. Cumber?

[thelakelander]

"For some reason my presentation doesn't include Jacksonville. Where do I get an updated version or is that phase 2?" asked an enthusiastic Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, during the Oct. 7 meeting.

Rusty Roberts, vice president for All Aboard Florida's parent company, Florida East Coast Industries, told the committee that Jacksonville and Tampa are possible connections once the Miami to Orlando route, which he called the "moneymaker system," is successful.

"We're happy to spend the money if we can afford it, we just ask government to kind of get out of the way," Roberts said. "I would say to those cities just wait and be patient and we'll get there."

full article: http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/business/jacksonville-next-stop-for-all-aboard-florida/ngRpF/#02806108.3803410.735409

[tufsu1]

Totally agree Lunican.  By being proactive and forward thinking, COJ could potentially work a great public/private deal with AAF to really put together a nice compact transportation center along with additional development. 

there have been discussions with local agencies (City and JTA)

[Ocklawaha]

Oh and make NO MISTAKE, this is where the Cocoa-Rockledge station bounces back to life. There is no way they'll be blowing through Cocoa-Rockledge when passengers can go in two directions from there on any train.

[spuwho]

Having Amtrak do the split at Jacksonville and send the Miami train down the FEC would make some sense. Amtrak is required to pay for their use of legacy rails and if anything, it would silence the silliness coming out of the Treasure Toast (pun intended) as they would get their stops in Stuart and elsewhere.

But it would be funny if an Amtrak announcement would stop the complaints, because in essence that would add 2 more trains daily to the route which is what they are beefing about to begin with.

[fsujax]

Well, we all knew this was coming sooner or later. I am pretty confident the stop will be downtown at Jacksonville Terminal. Big things could happen as far as any land development goes. Time will tell.

[ProjectMaximus]

ProjectMaximus, was that H. Cumber?

Nope, I'm talking about a young guy Mike who is "Operations Planner" for AAF. He lived in Jax for about 2.5 years and spent the first 6 months with AAF commuting from Jacksonville every week. I think I've seen him just once since he moved down to Miami but we have many mutual friends.

[thelakelander]

Do we really not pay attention to what happens regionally around us? This privately funded AAF passenger rail project has been a part of the national news scene for two years now...

According to the documents, that rail line could extend now from Cocoa to Jacksonville.

"It could be positive. I don't know anything about it," said Jacksonville City Councilman Bill Gulliford.

Gulliford wasn't the only city leader who didn't know about the plans. The spokesman for Mayor Alvin Brown didn't know anything either. Neither did anyone in St. Johns County, where the documents were filed. While leaders we spoke with agreed it sounds like a good idea, there's one question.

"The big question is who pays for it," said Gulliford. All Aboard wouldn't give any details about the plan, only issuing this statement saying, "The documents filed clarify AAF's ownership rights to provide passenger rail service in the FEC corridor."

That means for now, people in Northeast Florida are left to wait and wonder if high-speed rail will ever leave the station in Northeast Florida.

See more at: http://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/news/documents-filed-clerk-indicate-high-speed-rail-pla/ngTJQ/#sthash.4GNgGAUu.dpuf

[Lunican]

Like I said earlier... they are thinking about pontoon boats.

[Charles Hunter]

Wonder who they talked to in St. Johns County?  I imagine Nancy Sikes-Kline knows about it.

And, "high-speed rail" - it isn't really HSR, is it?

[JeffreyS]

They were also stunned to learn that extensive construction was happening on interstate 95 near the bridge.