Rail or More Roads in Jacksonville's Future?

[tufsu1]

^If the Jax-Miami link ends up being funded, construction could begin as soon as April 2010.  Jax needs to get its act together and figure out how to get that Amtrak station back downtown, ASAP.

from what I hear, it won't be anywhere near that soon....unless they can get a special "temporary" permit from FEC, they will likely need to double track first....and when that was done with TriRail in South Florida, it took close to 10 years inluding all the environmental reviews, design, and construction.

[Ocklawaha]

TUFSU1, The Florida East Coast is on the case, in fact they have been quiet players in this whole Commuter Rail study from the starting gate. What normally happens in these cases, (See: Amtrak California - The San Joaquin's), is that FEC, AMTRAK and FLORIDA, all come together and ink their deal. In order to get in the market while it's setting the media agenda, Amtrak-FEC will start with a single round trip daily, one with plenty of padding built into the schedules. The plan for the FEC will be LVE: Jax 9:55 AM - ARV: MIA 4:35 PM would be similar to the first San Joaquin Train. (There are 12 of them today!). I have serious doubts the FEC will seek double track along the whole 300 mile route. More likely they will hand DOT a list of surgical improvements, extended sidings, crossings closed and a few overpasses built to avoid troublesome crossings. This movement has really got the masses worked up and the FEC is riding high on the headlines. They would be foolish to let this momentum stall or fade over a 10 minute time savings delivered by a new passing siding.

Well that's my crystal ball...

OCKLAWAHA

[thelakelander]

I also thought that they would not have to double track the entire corridor immediately.  Nevertheless, assuming all the moons aligned in order, the earliest the system would begin running is 2012. If funding is granted soon, I can't imagine it taking another decade to get Amtrak up and running on the FEC.

[Ocklawaha]

Another factor in this, even if the FEC was to double track the entire railroad, it shouldn't be as bad as the Tri-Rail / CSX mess in Miami. That was largely single track territory from day one and much of it was in pretty cramped space. The FEC was completely double tracked into the 1960's, so the right of way, bridges, culverts and such are ready to roll.

OCKLAWAHA