Comments on: SunRail and Florida HSR Promoted as Inexorably Linked

By: ednaxe

ednaxe — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 04:27:43 +0000

As planned ( http://www.floridahighspeedrail.org/2c_phases.html ), the first Florida High Speed Rail segment will stop at Disneyworld, skirt Orlando and terminate at Orlando Airport without approaching closer than about 10 miles to downtown Orlando. The only connection between the route and existing rail services is in downtown Tampa. This may be fine for tourists, but surely some sort of connecting transit is necessary if this route is to be useful for business travel or promote transit-oriented development, which may be taken into account when federal HSR grants are decided. Unfortunately, as planned there would be no connection with SunRail either, but as the routes intersect a connection is at least possible, and I would hope this is what Florida politicians are getting at with their assertions that Sunrail and HSR are linked.

By: Nikko

Nikko — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 03:53:11 +0000

Hi, I’m from Orlando

@guy with the funny name: the link dosn’t work even after I log in to google

This article is interesting but I don’t really see a relevant argument in the whole Sunrail vs HSR thing. If I would have to pick one as a priority, I would pick Sunrail because its more practical to implement in the short term and is more directly oriented towards the whole ‘smart growth’ concept than a Tampa-Orlando HSR. But I don’t see them competing in any event.

As for the FLHSR itself, I don’t think its well thought out at all. It basically shadows the freeway system. And what’s with the whole idea of using the jettrain? That completely defeats the point of energy efficiency and environmentalism. Also, why is it that the line follows the I-4 corridor, cuts across the B-line, and then heads down I-75 to Miami?

IMO, the best solution would be to follow I-4 from Orlando down to the Auburndale area to hit all the major Central Florida attractions, and then use the CSX A-line ROW from Auburndale to Tampa. If you look at a map and compare the CSX ROW to the I-4 ROW between those two points, the CSX line is almost straight as an arrow while I-4 seems to make a lot of twists and turns. The CSX line would also be a double edged sword because it goes through the center of Auburndale, Winter Haven, Lakeland, Plant City, and a number of other smaller towns. That gives HSR the advantage of being able to serve that market but will probably also restrict its top speed because of the frequency of the towns. I don’t see this line as being true HSR because inevitably, these smaller cities will be served. You can’t just have a Tampa Bay to Orlando Express and leave them behind in the dust. There was a reason the politicians chose this route first, for the sake of connecting these cities with the Tampa Bay and Central Florida.

Phase II might involve the line to Tampa roughly following the CSX ex-SAL from Auburndale to Avon Park and then follow the CSX ROW from there to West Palm Beach. Again, straight as an arrow. As for the WPB to Miami portion, I might just stick with the CSX ROW, but I’ve always believed Tri-rail should have been placed on the FEC tracks, but w/e.

By: Amitabha Mukhopadhyay

Amitabha Mukhopadhyay — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 04:28:36 +0000

For the design and development of a futuristic mass transit system certain factors have to be considered.
Firstly it should be very sleek and sophisticated in design so that people are encouraged to use it rather than using their own automobiles.
Secondly it must leave absolutely zero carbon foot print .
Thirdly it must be air-conditioned and use only a fraction of the energy that present system uses thus generating huge profit.
Appear to be wishful thinking? Certainly not . Please read my science fiction novel MEGALOPOLIS ONE 2080 A.D. where all the engineering details are given for a mass transit system in a megacity in the year 2080. The press release is http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dghgs9b8_13hkjdqtc6&btr=EmailImport