Commuter Rail: Could Amtrak be the answer?

Click title for link to story in Jacksonville paper. Is Amtrak the answer we've been looking for to bring commuter rail to Jacksonville and other Florida cities? Amtrak to receive nearly $15 billion in additional funding: WASHINGTON - A nearly $15 billion Amtrak bill passed the House today as lawmakers rallied around an alternative for travelers saddled with soaring gas prices. The bipartisan bill, which passed by a veto-proof margin of 311-104, would authorize funding for the national passenger railroad over the next five years. Some of the money would go to a program of matching grants to help states set up or expand rail service. Besides the $14.9 billion provided for Amtrak and intercity rail, an amendment to the bill would authorize $1.5 billion for Washington's Metro transit system over the next 10 years.http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-amtrak0611,0,2335081.story

Rail cargo safety fight heats up

Click title for link to full article. The Transportation Department has proposed regulations that require railroads to assess routes for shipping dangerous chemicals. New York - Every day, hundreds of rail tank cars carry tons of chemicals that, if released, could create toxic plumes. These tank cars traverse more than 300,000 miles of railroad tracks through major cities and small towns across America. While they represent only a small fraction of the rail cargo moved each year, homeland-security analysts have long warned that a terrorist attack on such a rail car could have catastrophic consequences.

New CSX plan will increase traffic congestion on A1A

Click title for link. Audio available on article site. By My Nassau Sun Florida A1A, the only east-west road in Nassau County, is overcapacity between Amelia Island and Interstate 95 and we lack adequate funding to improve the road. Intense discussion in the community and in our local papers has occurred recently about traffic congestion, accidents and evacuation safety on A1A. At the same time, our county commissioners continue to authorize new developments along A1A by giving developers exemptions to the county concurrency ordinance

Challenges Beset CSX

Carrier juggles challenging trio of hedge funds, commuter rail deal setback, train derailments http://www.strongercsx.com/news/Traffic_World2.pdf

Massachusetts LG blasts CSX

Last spring, Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray's office called Florida CFO Alex Sink to alert her to a train wreck in Canton where a CSX freight train lost control and hit a passenger car, injuring more than 100 people. Sink's office at the time was deciding whether to step in more forcefully to Florida's debate over the CSX-Central Florida Florida commuter rail deal, and the wreck helped galvanize opponents to giving the company a no-fault insurance policy on the rail line. Now Murray is calling CSX's insistence on the insurance protection in a similar commuter rail deal being negotiated with his state a "deal breaker." "CSX is demanding the no-fault provision remain in place, even after the state buys the line," he wrote in an op-ed published in the Worcestor Business Journal. "This is a deal-breaker, and frankly it undermines the foundation of our justice system, which is based on the idea that people and companies should be responsible for their own actions."

Upcoming CSX/Commuter Rail Meeting

Thursday, June 12, 2008 starting at 6:00 p.m. Sanford City Hall 300 N. Park Avenue Sanford, Florida 32771 This is a public hearing on the Central Florida commuter rail project’s supplemental environmental assessment. The focus of this public hearing is on changes associated with the Fort Florida, Longwood and Maitland stations and the movement of freight traffic from the A-Line to the S-Line. Project information will be available from 6:00-7:00 p.m.; the formal public hearing (which will include an opportunity for public comments) will start at 7:00 p.m.

Turnout sparse for open house on freight traffic

Click title for link to full story. BY CHRISTOPHER CURRYStar-Banner Published: Thursday, June 5, 2008 at 6:30 a.m. Last Modified: Thursday, June 5, 2008 at 11:54 a.m. OCALA - Perhaps the concerned residents got stuck at a railroad crossing and couldn't make it on time. Perhaps they've resigned themselves to the fact that CSX plans to route more freight train traffic through town whether they like it or not. Either way, attendance was sparse when Florida Department of Transportation officials came to Ocala Wednesday night for an open house to share the results of two studies on the impacts more CSX freight train traffic will have on Ocala. Ann and Charles Drewitt were among a handful of residents who turned out. Their home is a few blocks away from the railroad crossing at northeast Eighth Street. Ann Drewitt said they dreaded additional noise from the CSX plan to route eight to nine more trains a day through Ocala.