Amtrak Pacific Surfliner Corridor Service

[9a is my backyard]

Hub = jobs.  If it can be proven that tons of jobs can be stimulated locally, it will make a fight for something like this stronger.

Absolutely, especially right now.

Do you think any of the local rail companies would get behind it?

[Ocklawaha]

Absolutely, especially right now.

Do you think any of the local rail companies would get behind it?

you'd have a better chance making ice cubes in Hell. Y'all have got to understand that over the years the railroads lost BILLIONS on passenger trains. Once the door cracked so they could get out of that business, it turned into stampede. Amtrak is all that is left and they operate only about 1/4 the track miles that the private companies did the day before Amtrak took over. 8 trains a day was suddenly 1 train a day, and in many towns, cities even entire states, the trains just vanished.

Since freight makes big bucks and passenger trains are a liability and get in the way of freight, the railroads are less then thrilled to be forced to operate Amtrak trains. You are NOT going to get the railroads on this band wagon.

The recent additions have been okayed by the railroads because they were in such a capacity bind during the recent building boom. Trains were sometimes 24 hours late. So when a state or city comes around (such as the Orlando Deal) the railroad is quick to sell the track, lease back the rights to operate the freights, conditional that the state "DOUBLE TRACK" the entire line (or some other high volume $$ demand). This is the only carrot we have for commuter rail or for corridor service.

OCKLAWAHA

[Waldorf Statler]

Long time lurker, first time poster - but I'm a BnB (born n bred) Jacksonvillian and love the city.

However, I now live in Southern California and wanted to comment on this post (and there's more to come on others now that I'm registered!).

The Pacific Surfliner seems great, and sounds romantic.  But, the reality is that not many people use it.  Oh it would be  nice to hope the train for a jaunt up to San Luis Obisbo, or down to San Diego, but really, not many people (I would say nobody but that sounds mean) do.  Why?  Because in our hyper-accelerated lives, we just don't have time to spend 8 hours on a train when a 1 hour flight will do the same.  Most vacations are 2-3 days max.  Spending nearly a full day traveling each way just doesn't cut it.  Sure the journey becomes part of the experience, and for some this is more important than others, but given the choice, most would rather spend time on the beach, strolling the San Luis farmer's market, or wandering the streets of San Francisco than hanging out on a train.
I love the ideas put forth on this site, and in a perfect world train travel would be an excellent alternate option to offer, but the demand just isn't there given the costs involved in running (much less setting one up) an operation.
During Train Day, we went downtown to Union Station and toured the trains.  They're quite nice and would be a wonderful treat, but even the tickets were expensive compared to a $75/ow flight to San Fran, or jumping in your car to San Diego (because you'll likely need a car when you get there or will spend a fortune in cabs).
So, great idea...not so sure it's grounded in the real world.
Thanks for the opportunity...and for all the hard work everyone put into the site!
Waldorf

[BridgeTroll]

Welcome Waldorf... you make some very good points.  There is no doubt that time spent travelling and cost are in the favor of air travel for many people.

[thelakelander]

It really depends on how you look at it.  The Pacific Surfliner carried 2.89 million passengers last year.  That's pretty impressive.  Also, from looking at the route and communities it serves, one would guest most aren't using it to travel from one end to the other.  For example, it would not make sense to fly from Oceanside to Santa Ana or Glendale to Irvine.  Locally, it would not make sense to fly from Jacksonville to St. Augustine or Palm Coast.  However, a rail connection between Jacksonville and Miami would provide direct service to all of the coastal communities in between, meaning one could us it to move between Titusville and Daytona. This is an area where rail remains superior.

[Ocklawaha]

We come from a generation of people with a habit of non-stop flights or even drives to anyplace else. So much so that the Billions and Billions spent on airline and interstates every year have created their own nightmares.

Fact is, in stage lengths of 300 miles or less, trains still rule the commercial travel industry... Where they are provided. Sadly Amtrak has never had the funds to provide a "service" rather then simply a train per route.
Imagine, one flight a day to Atlanta... NO OTHER CHOICE... Amtrak doesn't even have ONE.

There is also an element of travel that cannot be enjoyed on a plane. Seeing America up close and personal.
Likewise, trains will attract many more long distance travelers then an equal bus will. Trailways once had the articulated GOLDEN EAGLES and these coaches had a hostess, kitchen, table service, extra leg room, restrooms etc... Going head to head with SANTA FE's passenger trains nearly killed the company.

As speeds increase the stage lengths of rail commands more miles, witness the failure of several short haul airlines in Europe. In fact our first case stateside was this year when the shuttle pulled out of Harrisburg-NYC as it could NOT compete with the center city - center city times of the fast trains.

We don't need HIGH SPEED RAIL in Florida, all we need is higher speed rail and smarter more frequent rail.
Florida could support a mostly 79 mph system today, we could get rid of more then 1/2 of the slow speed zones with overpasses and fencing. All of this without having to touch the track. Frankly I have knowledge of a train reaching 120 MPH North of Jacksonville, in FLORIDA. We COULD DO THIS NOW, we don't have to wait for some magic spell and $60 Billion Dollars.

OCKLAWAHA

[stjr]

I previously posted about the benefits of an interstate link from Jax-Orange Park to Gainesville-Tampa.

Likewise, if we had a Jax Airport-Jax Downtown-Orange Park/Jax NAS-Gainesville train, it would share similar benefits.  A large number of flyers to/from Gainesville come through JIA.  Shands Gainesville patients and their famililies and UF profs, students, and sports fans commute from Jax homes.  UF doctors commute to/from Shands Jax.  UF students and Gainesville residents commute to Jax for events and beaches.  A lot more would occur between Jax-Gainesville if the cities had stronger links than currently exist.  Clay County also might benefit from the inter-connecting transportation link they so desperately seek.

Just this "little" rail line could do a lot for both ends. Jax has a major asset in being near a major research university at UF and has not fully exploited it.

[ProjectMaximus]

Jax has a major asset in being near a major research university at UF and has not fully exploited it.

Amen, brother. Actually, you could put a lot of different phrases between "asset" and "and"...

[wwanderlust]

What would happen if the citizens of Jacksonville took the city officials out of the mix and formed a group to lobby directly with the rail companies to begin the process of a functioning mass transit system in our city?  Just a thought.

Best idea I've heard in a while.