Commuter Rail Proposal Stagnates

Click title for story link. By LINDSAY PETERSON lpeterson@tampatrib.com Published: March 31, 2009 TALLAHASSEE - With only a month left in the state legislative session, the going has gotten slow for Central Florida's commuter rail project. A bill with a key liability agreement won't come up for at least two weeks in the next Senate committee scheduled to hear it. At the same time, the head of the U.S. House Transportation Committee has called signing such agreements an "unacceptable practice." The comments from U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., came in response to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report about the arrangements that governments make when they buy freight railroads for public use. In Florida's case, the state plans to give CSX Transportation $432 million for 61 miles of the track that runs through downtown Orlando. The track would be used for a commuter system, called SunRail.