I was referring to MWHSR’s plans to increase their speeds to 220 mph along the lines I mentioned in my last post. Also, foreign entities like SNCF and Japan Central have expressed interest in building an HSR line along the CHI-FW-TOL-DET stretch, a line that WOULDN’T be served right away by the Midwest system.

“Florida may not have good conventional rail (though it does have several of the Silver Service long trains running through it), but that’s irrelevant for this program.”

I have read blogs for the last several months on how flawed that state’s is. These have ranged from people who want more private sector involvement to those who all HSR systems to be run publicly.

Along the 84-mile line, there’s no connectivity at all. The Tampa stop will be a new intermodal center that will primarily serve the city’s transit system. Lakeland’s station will be north of town, not the current downtown location. As for Orlando, we’re talking about the Disney and Airport areas that are well south of town.

We also have to remember that like California, Florida will almost certainly hire a foreign entity to operate the HSR route, so that is yet another major issue with connectivity–not that it’s a bad thing, we need as many competitors possible to prevent Amtrak from being complacent. I just want to see things made easier in this new rail age.

Why? The Midwest lines that actually have all the environmental work done and are ready to go are slower than the Tampa-Orlando project. The Tampa-Orlando line is very short, so it has high proposed speeds, and it’s going to be on all new track.

The FL project is more “true HSR” than anything else proposed than the CA plan, at least if we’re talking about projects that actually have completed all their Environmental Impact Statements. Florida may not have good conventional rail (though it does have several of the Silver Service long trains running through it), but that’s irrelevant for this program. The important thing was having a program with EIS finished and on the shelf. Yes, Florida abandoned the plan in 2005 after they saw the cost, when federal money wasn’t forthcoming, but they still had the plan to go to when money became available.

Florida was well ahead of the Midwest in that regard. MWHSR has ridership studies, but they don’t have a completed EIS with a Record of Decision.