SunRail May Be Back

[tufsu1]

Sounds like the life support system is still turned on

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-commuter-rail-csx-062609,0,43843.story

[Ocklawaha]

OOPS Oversight time...

We need our delegation to make sure the hidden wording giving eternal and absolute unobstructed access to all other CSX track (besides the Sunrail Lines) to the railroad, gets stripped out of the deal. This wording effectively says, we will allow Sunrail to buy and operate our mainline, as long as the State of Florida or anyone else NEVER - EVER - asks us to do this again - ANYWHERE! Thus Mickey Mouse would get his Sunrail and Jacksonville, Tampa, St. Pete, etc... Would be SOL forever.

OCKLAWAHA

[tufsu1]

Ock>>>i never saw this anywhere in the bill's language...where did you see it?

[mtraininjax]

CSX must have rolled over and changed their spots......

[thelakelander]

Tri-Rail back on track as well

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1115497.html

[mtraininjax]

That will be interesting to see how it plays out. Dipping into your savings for status quo only to see revenues continue to fall, while fuel and labor prices rise, is not a good business model.

Then again, this is South Florida, they do have Tallahassee's ear, and will probably get what they cry for next session. Why else would they waste tax payer dollars on a system that is losing money faster than a Bernie Madoff scam?

[thelakelander]

As for CSX and Sunrail, I can see why the deadline was waived.  After all, who else is going to send that much money their way during a recession?

[mtraininjax]

The requirements of insurance and liability are a bad deal for the state on CSX lines. We will all pay heavily for the first mishap, and last I checked, Insurance companies (AIG) were not well thought of in the market.

[FayeforCure]

As for CSX and Sunrail, I can see why the deadline was waived.  After all, who else is going to send that much money their way during a recession?

Scott Maxwell has an excellent piece on the Sunrail resurgence attempt:

orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-locscott-maxwell-column-sunrail062809jun28,0,7895554.column

OrlandoSentinel.com
Friendly advice for SunRail's boosters: Get real
Scott Maxwell

TAKING NAMES

June 28, 2009


So, SunRail's back on track. Maybe. Sort of.

I'm not sure whether to cheer or roll my eyes.

Inherently, I support transit options and rail. And I think it's shortsighted and simple-minded to blast this project because it costs a lot of money and wouldn't carry many people at first.

That's how the first leg of most any rail system would be.

I have to imagine there were skeptics back in 1869 when New York's first underground tunnel â€" a mere 312 feet in length beneath Broadway â€" was constructed. It certainly wasn't practical.

But the visionaries knew then that you must walk before you can run. And that first step is the most painful.

That said, I have never liked the way this town's "visionaries" have handled rail.

They can be heavy-handed, condescending and less than forthcoming with the facts.

They offer vague and misleading answers to legitimate questions and then seem puzzled by the fact that everyone doesn't jump on board.

They help create the very gadflies that drive them so batty.

There's also the fact that so many of them seem to have their hands in the cookie jar.

I remember last month when we got our hands on the documents that showed how much public money had been spent promoting this thing â€" well over $1 million on lobbying and public relations alone.

More than a quarter-million of that went to the regional civic group, Myregion.org. Taxpayers already support this well-intentioned but amorphous chamber-of-commerce outgrowth, which is bigger on feel-good talk than concrete results.

So the taxpayers help fund this group ... which then bills the taxpayers for more money ... so they can convince everyone to spend more taxpayer money on a massive project. Nice gig if you can get it.

(And by the way: Nearly $1 million for sell-jobs that failed? Maybe someone should throw a few expected-results clauses into the next contract.)

There are a lot of people who support this project. SunRail proponents should find more of them who are willing to give help â€" without also giving them a bill.

Even the so-called "deadline" that was miraculously extended last week was an artificial one.

It was simply a date CSX chose to try to force lawmakers to strike a deal as quickly as possible. There's a reason that CSX both set the deadline and now agreed to extend it â€" because the company is going to make out like a bandit.

That's something else proponents have trouble admitting. When pressed about whether CSX is getting too much from taxpayers, they resort to the well-that's-how-everyone-else-did-it response.

My mother didn't buy that excuse when I was back in grade school. Maybe I need to sic Mom on the SunRail strategists.

On the flip side, though, you have an extreme (and extremely loud) portion of the anti-rail crowd that complains about everything associated with the project.

Some have legitimate concerns about costs and getting more trains coming through their towns.

But some simply don't want to spend any money â€" on this or most anything else. They propose loopy, unresearched ideas like extending Disney's monorail to downtown. They assume everyone who likes rail is getting a payoff. And they accuse most any medium that won't parrot their conspiracy theories of getting paid for their silence.

I don't blame SunRail supporters for giving up on trying to placate that crowd. Some don't want to be placated. They are most happy when miserable ... and eager to make others feel the same way.

And then somewhere between the constant complainers and paternalistic pom-pom shakers are what I think is the majority of us â€" people who want more transit options but have some legitimate concerns and questions.

We are the people who understand that SunRail would simply be a first step, but a crucial one. People who understand that nothing this significant comes cheap.

But we are also people who expect those championing this project to act more like responsible stewards of the public's interest than starry-eyed cheerleaders. People who want public officials to drive a hard bargain on their behalf. And people who want civic leaders who will do that without looking to get paid for it.

The best thing proponents have going for them is the possibility of tapping even more stimulus money for the project.

They should tout that fact, answer all the hard questions and retool their sales pitch â€" perhaps with some new pitchmen.

Scott Maxwell can be reached at smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6141.

[thelakelander]

Federal Transit Administration recommends $40 mil. for project

By Joe Follick
LEDGER TALLAHASSEE BUREAU

Published: Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 10:36 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 10:36 p.m.
TALLAHASSEE | SunRail supporters are heralding a $40 million promise from the federal government as an indication that the controversial Orlando commuter rail line will be built.

But opponents say the money is no guarantee future funding hopes will be met.

"I think this is just a way of trying to breathe life back into this," said Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, who has led the opposition to the plan and successfully thwarted legislative approval the past two years.

In a letter sent Monday to U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, the administrator of the Federal Transit Administration said the agency "continues to be supportive of the project and has demonstrated that support by recommending it for $40 million in funding in the Administration's Fiscal Year 2010 budget request."

The administrator, Peter M. Rogoff, said the state Legislature's failure to approve a legal liability agreement with freight giant CSX Transportation does not dim the agency's "hope that the Florida (congressional) delegation, working with the state Legislature, can get this project back on track."

full article: http://www.theledger.com/article/20090701/NEWS/907015033/1134?Title=Agency-Plans-Funds-for-SunRail

[mtraininjax]

Well at least its not officially dead. Would Mica be willing to throw some cash to North Florida as well?