Florida's newest commuter rail Sunrail gets state Senate approval - Page 9

Hatman · #**161** Posted **Jun 25, 2015, 6:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jasonhouse

Oh come on now. We talk about this at the Tampa Bay forum on Skyscrapercity.

And it's on the local radar too. I went to an FDOT meeting last night in Tampa, and it came up there, that FDOT is back to trying to find a way to use part of CSX's tracks in the Tampa Bay area.

Cool. Is FDOT looking to start a new service local to Tampa, or would they back an extension of Sunrail? Or is this too early to even ask?
Also, is there a link to the Tampa Bay forum?

Lakelander · #**162** Posted **Jun 26, 2015, 10:57 AM**

I doubt there will be an extension of Sunrail to Tampa. CSX isn't going to allow commuter rail on that line and there's nothing anyone can do about it. However, it would be cool to see Amtrak upgrade to something similar like the corridor services they offer in Southern California.

bobdreamz · #**163** Posted **Sep 12, 2015, 9:08 PM**

Exclusive: SunRail to ink funding deal for Phase 2 South
Updated Sep 10, 2015, 12:30pm EDT

The Florida Department of Transportation will join federal and local officials later this month to sign the deal that will kickstart construction on the expansion of SunRail into Osceola County.
FDOT and the Federal Transit Administration on Sept. 28 will host a party centered around the signing of the full funding grant agreement for SunRail Phase 2 South, the extension of Central Florida’s commuter rail from Sand Lake Road in Orange County to Poinciana. The event will be at 9:30 a.m. at the Kissimmee Multi-Modal Center, 111 E. Dakin Ave.

The agreement signifies the U.S. Department of Transportation’s commitment to paying half of the $186.9 million in capital costs for Phase 2 South’s construction. The federal government will contribute $93 million towards the construction, and the balance will be split between the state of Florida and Orange and Osceola counties.

The signing later this month will include a $63 million installment from the feds, with the balance set to come at a later date, SunRail officials told Orlando Business Journal.

The south extension is a critical one for SunRail as Osceola County is expected to have a huge portion of workers use the system to commute to the area’s major job centers. Having the stations operational also creates opportunities for real estate redevelopment surrounding the stops.

SunRail’s south extension will add 17.2 miles of rail service to the current 31-mile system now operating between DeBary in Volusia County and Sand Lake Road. Phase 2 includes four additional stations: Orange County’s Meadow Woods neighborhood; near the headquarters of Tupperware Brands Corp. (NYSE: TUP) on Osceola Parkway; in downtown Kissimmee; and Poinciana.

Construction is expected to begin by year’s end on Phase 2 South, and the design/build team is expected to be selected on Oct. 19.

http://www.easternrailroadnews.com/w...Sunrailmap.jpg

Source : http://assets.bizjournals.com/orland...te*280.jpg?v=1

N830MH · #**164** Posted **Sep 14, 2015, 4:17 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lakelander

I doubt there will be an extension of Sunrail to Tampa. CSX isn't going to allow commuter rail on that line and there's nothing anyone can do about it. However, it would be cool to see Amtrak upgrade to something similar like the corridor services they offer in Southern California.

No, they won't be extending to Tampa, FL. Is not an options. Only for Amtrak. Sunrail is stay in Orlando, FL. Is not going to Tampa, period!

Prahaboheme · #**165** Posted **Sep 15, 2015, 2:06 PM**

SunRail is metro Orlando's commuter rail system. It will be expanded south to Poinciana in the next phase, and to the airport intermodal terminal in the third phase. There is also discussion of future expansion to Lake County and to east Orange County.

Commuter rail to Tampa from Orlando wouldn't likely yield high ridership numbers as these two cities do not really interact in the sense of having cross-commuter traffic.

eleven=11 · #**166** Posted **Sep 29, 2015, 3:26 AM**

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/b...hase-3-to.html
phase 3 to airport to include weekend service
also more info on phase 2

transitfan · #**167** Posted **Sep 29, 2015, 2:26 PM**

I assume you could connect from SunRail to All Aboard Florida at the Airport Intermodal Terminal? (the link did not make that clear).

Lakelander · #**168** Posted **Sep 30, 2015, 3:14 AM**

^Yes.

bobdreamz · #**169** Posted **Sep 30, 2015, 9:50 PM**

The Federal Transit Administration grant of $93 million covers half the cost of the $186 million extension.
By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
September 30, 2015

KISSIMMEE – A collection of elected and government leaders signed a 10-foot-tall placard Monday signifying that $93 million in federal dollars soon will be spent in Osceola County expanding the SunRail commuter train as far south as Poinciana.

"Ridership will grow, spurring more demand," predicted Therese McMillan, the acting administrator of the Federal Transit Administration.

SunRail now stops just north of the Osceola line at Sand Lake Road, but construction should start in November on the four stations, plus new tracks for the 17-mile extension.

The new leg is supposed to be up and running by December 2017.

Monday's gathering, at the Kissimmee Amtrak station, was attended by more than 100 SunRail supporters. A SunRail train idled on the tracks nearby.

The grant had been awarded by the FTA in May and amounts to half the total cost of $186 million. The remainder comes from the state, Osceola and Orange counties.

The money does not affect the proposed northern expansion, which would take the train from DeBary to DeLand. SunRail needs $35 million more from the federal government for DeLand and is hoping for another grant.

SunRail expects about 2,000 riders per day to get on the train in the southern leg. The Osceola link is supposed to stops at the Meadow Woods community in south Orange, near the Tupperware business campus, downtown Kissimmee and Poinciana.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...928-story.html

eleven=11 · #**170** Posted **Oct 14, 2015, 5:45 PM**

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/art...kday-ridership
nifty link website, weird click bait thou. go to the comments section.
this is why sunrail will help AAF be a success.
also AAF will in the future (2020) expand to jacksonville.

N830MH · #**171** Posted **Oct 21, 2015, 4:20 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by eleven=11

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/art...kday-ridership
nifty link website, weird click bait thou. go to the comments section.
this is why sunrail will help AAF be a success.
also AAF will in the future (2020) expand to Jacksonville.

Do you this mean AAF train will extend to Jacksonville, FL? Why not St. Augustine? It would be much easier for me to visit my old friends in St. Augustine, FL instead of Jacksonville, FL. Because St. Augustine is growing fast. Lots of those people who lived in St. Augustine. It getting more extremely overcrowded.

electricron · #**172** Posted **Oct 21, 2015, 5:45 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by N830MH

Do you this mean AAF train will extend to Jacksonville, FL? Why not St. Augustine? It would be much easier for me to visit my old friends in St. Augustine, FL instead of Jacksonville, FL. Because St. Augustine is growing fast. Lots of those people who lived in St. Augustine. It getting more extremely overcrowded.

Populations of:
St. Augustine = (City) 12,975, (Urban) 69,173
Jacksonville = (City) 821,784, (Urban) 1,065,219, (Metro) 1,394,624, (CSA) 1,502,515

??What??

eleven=11 · #**173** Posted **Oct 21, 2015, 11:15 AM**

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacksonville_Skyway
this was why i was linking to that metrojacksonville web site
also why i think sunrail is good for AAF

eleven=11 · #**174** Posted **Oct 24, 2015, 1:05 AM**

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/b...e-next-to.html
new 400 space garage for new sunrail station also this picture of another new station
[IMG]http://media.bizj.us/view/img/7396902/tupperware-master-plan-091815*xx.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://media.bizj.us/view/img/7396902/tupperware-master-plan-091815*xx.jpg[/IMG]

Lakelander · #**175** Posted **Oct 24, 2015, 4:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by N830MH

Do you this mean AAF train will extend to Jacksonville, FL? Why not St. Augustine? It would be much easier for me to visit my old friends in St. Augustine, FL instead of Jacksonville, FL. Because St. Augustine is growing fast. Lots of those people who lived in St. Augustine. It getting more extremely overcrowded.

If and whenever they expand to Jax, all they'd need is to place three stations along the route: DT Jax, St. Augustine's Historic District and Daytona Beach.

Btw, they do have thoughts of extending to Jax at some point in the future. If they did not, they would not have started laying the groundwork for such an extension last summer:

Quote:

Court documents filed last week by All Aboard Florida and a newly formed related company point to the passenger rail’s extension of its service on the Florida East Coast Railway tracks north to Jacksonville.

The new company, AAF Jacksonville Segment LLC, which was registered in Delaware May 29, penned agreements filed in St. Johns County June 18 that confirm its rights to run passenger rail on the lines from Cocoa to Jacksonville.

Attention on All Aboard Florida has so far focused on its 240-mile Miami to Orlando segment.

Richard Radcliffe, executive director of the Palm Beach County League of Cities, said he’s heard no official public discussion of extending All Aboard Florida express rail service to Jacksonville.

But Kim DeLaney, strategic development coordinator of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, said it was mentioned in 2012 as a potential future expansion option when All Aboard Florida first began to tout the project.

Full article: http://realtime.blog.palmbeachpost.c...-jacksonville/

eleven=11 · #**176** Posted **Oct 27, 2015, 1:24 AM**

big news - phase 3 to airport approved
http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/b...port-gets.html
now we need updates on airport station construction.

N830MH · #**177** Posted **Oct 27, 2015, 5:41 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by transitfan

I assume you could connect from SunRail to All Aboard Florida at the Airport Intermodal Terminal? (the link did not make that clear).

Yes, it is. You can take Sunrail to MCO airport. You can connect All Aboard Florida. You may catch the train to West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale or Miami.

Quote:

Originally Posted by eleven=11

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/b...hase-3-to.html
phase 3 to airport to include weekend service
also more info on phase 2

Hmmm. I don't see a project map. Can you find it?

N830MH · #**178** Posted **Oct 27, 2015, 5:46 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by eleven=11

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/b...e-next-to.html
new 400 space garage for new sunrail station also this picture of another new station
[IMG]http://media.bizj.us/view/img/7396902/tupperware-master-plan-091815*xx.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://media.bizj.us/view/img/7396902/tupperware-master-plan-091815*xx.jpg[/IMG]

Sorry, man. the links isn't working at all. You have to do upload the pics onto photobucket.com.

The pics isn't work at all. You have to do upload photobucket.com and it's very easy. You may upload a pictures onto entire website.

bobdreamz · #**179** Posted **Oct 27, 2015, 8:00 PM**

Federal government endorses SunRail link to Orlando International Airport
Orlando Sentinel
October 26, 2015

SunRail has won the endorsement of the federal government for a spur that would link the commuter train to Orlando International Airport.

The decision, announced Monday by U.S. Reps. John Mica, R-Winter Park, and Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, does not include the award of any money.

But it helps clear the way for local officials to pursue the 5.5-mile expansion to the airport.

The estimated cost is as much as $225 million. According to a release from Mica's office, the Federal Transit Administration could make as much as $75 million available in grant money, with the remainder coming from state and local sources.

But do not look for construction, much less service, to start anytime soon.

SunRail first must extend its tracks south into Osceola County. That leg is not expected to open until late 2017.

The earliest the airport link could open would be 2020, experts say.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busin...026-story.html

BrennanW · #**180** Posted **Oct 29, 2015, 2:45 PM**

Is it feasible that SunRail might get a Daytona Beach extension? The land between DeLand and DAB is sparsely populated and leaders have proposed using the I-4 median as potential ROW. I think the lengthy extension up to DeLand is a good opportunity to bridge the gap over to the beach.

Seems Florida, despite adversity, is moving forward on a good number of rail mobility projects. Kudos!