The Brightline Thread

[Wizened Variations]

Originally Posted by bobdreamz

202 What is crazy about this is that FECI has been sitting on these 11.2 acres in the heart of downtown Miami for about 50 years when they abandoned passenger rail and sold the right of way to the county to build Metrorail in the 1980's. They just basically used them as parking lots! This is what they own:



and what is to come :



I think they finally realized they have a Gold mine by owning adjacent property along the entire ROW on the All Aboard Florida route up to Cocoa.

Looks to me like this might be the first world class downtown transportation node built since the 1930s in the US! The only comparable current downtown station upgrade in NA is the magnificent improvements being made at Toronto's Union Station.

Let's do it!

[Lakelander]

^Denver's recent Union Station upgrade is pretty impressive.

[phoenixboi08]

and Transbay in SF
ARTIC Station in Anaheim
the MMPT in Atlanta...on and on

[eleven=11]

Originally Posted by Lakelander

^Denver's recent Union Station upgrade is pretty impressive.

yeah it looks more like the MIA airport new train station
also with new TriRail & Amtrak
should be open anyday now

can someone post a picture from the new wiki map update ???
of the MIA train station
google has new map updates ....

[Lakelander]

For anyone who believes FECI isn't serious about getting AAF off the ground...

Fortress wows market with Florida railway bond

NEW YORK, June 20 (IFR) - Investment management firm Fortress stunned the market this week by selling a deeply subordinated payment-in-kind (PIK) toggle note to finance a new Florida passenger railway service.

Investors took on considerable risk - on top of the already risky PIK structure - as there is no cashflow until the project, already facing some political push-back, is up and running.

The All Aboard Florida project plans to expand an existing freight railway on Florida's east coast to begin carrying passengers for the first time since 1968.

To reassure investors, the deal was upsized to US$405m from US$390m, with the extra proceeds put in an interest reserve account to pay half of the cash coupon until the project is done.

The deal was also larded with investor-friendly covenants - including a lien on the land, the rights to the passenger track, the ability to run the business if the project goes wrong and an offer to purchase at par if the project is abandoned before an opening deadline.

"It is a bit of an equity story," said another high-yield investor who did buy the deal.

"On the other hand, unlike large infrastructure related projects, most of the rail link is already there which reduces the build risk."

full article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0P05SL20140620

[Lakelander]

AAF Rider and Ticket Data Revealed

According to the linked Palm Beach Post article, it will cost $23.77 for a one-way ticket between DT West Palm Beach and DT Miami (71 miles) when the passenger rail service opens in 2016. A business class ticket will run $36.60.

The Miami station will cost $150 million. Fort Lauderdale's station will cost $30 million and West Palm Beach's will cost $29 million.

It's estimated that 43% of passengers will be leisure, 27% personal travel, and 30% business travel. Tickets will make up 75% of revenue by 2019. Total revenue for that year is projected to be $92.4 million.

http://realtime.blog.palmbeachpost.c...ata-and-costs/

[Hatman]

Researching this project, I came across this article:

'All Aboard Florida' President Mike Reininger Goes One-On-One With CBS 12 To Address Local Concerns
http://www.cbs12.com/news/top-storie...id_17001.shtml

Which contains this video:
• Video Link

Which bears this description by Mike Reininger:

"Thereas a little time gap to ensure the safety of the crossing before the train gets there," Reininger points out, "our train, in this case, is operating at 68 miles per hour. This is the real length of our train. It comes through the crossing, with characteristics of the train we will be operating. The train clears the intersection, time goes by and the gates open."

Which brings me to my question: What kind of train do they plan on operating? I have no idea what kind of train they are using in the video. I was expecting to see a train looking more like this:

Which is basically Amtrak California equipment with a more interesting paint job. And if that is the equipment they plan on using, why did they come up with this fancy animation instead of grabbing footage of the Surfliners in action? That wouldn't be hard.
Maybe I'm just hoping they'll be using sleek streamlined equipment like in the video. It will certainly look better in the Miami station than standard US passenger stock.

[eleven=11]

crazy that we don't know if this will get built.
I think it will and quickly but a bunch of locals and
mayors are against it......
tri-rail is very fast, cant wait till the new airport
station opens. When it opens I predict riders go up 20% or more
yet All-aboard will do great because of the downtown station locations.
is there new news on the Orlando airport station?
its getting built anyways because its a multi mode transportation station
connecting to SunRail and that new Monorail to the convention center.

[eleven=11]

also the Miami Worldcenter shoping mall is crazy nice.
I saw a picture of a spiral stadium style walkway that
connects the Allaboard Miami station to the convention center hotel

[UrbanImpact]

Financing Complete-All Aboard Florida Will Begin Construction Immediately
http://www.exmiami.org/index.php/fin...n-immediately/

[afiggatt]

Originally Posted by Hatman

Which brings me to my question: What kind of train do they plan on operating? I have no idea what kind of train they are using in the video. I was expecting to see a train looking more like this:

Which is basically Amtrak California equipment with a more interesting paint job. And if that is the equipment they plan on using, why did they come up with this fancy animation instead of grabbing footage of the Surfliners in action? That wouldn't be hard.
Maybe I'm just hoping they'll be using sleek streamlined equipment like in the video. It will certainly look better in the Miami station than standard US passenger stock.

The Enviromental Assessment submitted by AAF for the Miami to WPB segment states that the stations will utilize high level platforms.The platforms at Fort Lauderdale and WPB will be 800' long while Miami will have four 1000' long platforms. They will not be using Surfliner or the Nippon-Sharyo corridor bi-level cars as those are for low level platforms only.

AFAIK, AAF has not said much about the rolling stock they plan to buy. They may still be in negotiations with potential vendors on which equipment they will buy. But it will be coach cars or trainsets that support high level platforms for level boarding. Maybe AAF is looking at DMU trainsets, but if not, then my guess is on diesel locomotives that the choices are either the EMD F-125 or the Siemens Charger which won the CA and Mid-west locomotive contract a few months ago.

[ardecila]

How can they build high-level platforms given the heavy volume of double-stack containers on FEC's tracks? Isn't there a clearance issue?

[afiggatt]

Originally Posted by ardecila

How can they build high-level platforms given the heavy volume of double-stack containers on FEC's tracks? Isn't there a clearance issue?

Double stack containers are not an issue for high level platforms. It is wide loads or loads that shift when they shouldn't. The Miami station will be on a dead end branch south of the FEC line to the port, so it won't see freight trains at its platforms. Perhaps they are planning a bypass or a gauntlet track at the Fort Lauderdale and WPB stations.

The entire set of Environmental Assessment documents for the WPB to Miami segment that were filed with the FRA and the FRA FONSI response are available on the FRA website in the eLibrary section. Do a search for "All Aboard Florida" and the documents show up. Or use this link. Feel free to read the EA and the appendices on the Conceptual Station Plans and the proposed track charts. Might be something in there about bypass/guantlet tracks. Or the FEC is not concerned about wide loads on their line.

[Wizened Variations]

Originally Posted by phoenixboi08

and Transbay in SF
ARC Station in Anaheim
the MMPT in Atlanta...on and on

Much more unusual than you think. There are multiple lines that are to pass through the station (that eliminates Denver.) The Anaheim Regional Transportation District is, from what I understand via http://www.articinfo.com/PDF/130731_ARTIC_PPT.pdf and other articles, the ARTIC Station is a commuter rail and HSR station served by buses. Projected user base is 51,900 (which is on the low side, IMO).

This is one of the California Stations that are dependent on the California HSR being built. Outside of that, the Station has nothing special other than the glorious glass and steel cover.

What sets the similarly "in the future" Miami Station apart is that the Station is downtown; and, like Anaheim, has three different sets of through tracks* (neither the FEC or the Metroline terminate (dead end) at the station. However, the station is smack downtown in a vigorous part of town and is associated with a Japanese style build out around the station. Thousands will work, and, hotel guests will stay, ABOVE the rail station.

This type of design was created in Japan, where for generations multi through line stations had huge stores built within 100 meters walking distance, office towers and entertainment on top of stations, and, shopping malls built along station passageways.

(I forgot to include the Union Station Project, in LA. If they build it out as dreamed, it would be the greatest station built in the US since the 1930s.)

*Including Metrolink. So there would be the FEC heavy rail line, the Commuter line, and, Metrolink.

[eleven=11]

yes the Miami All Aboard will be nice and very busy
don't forget that the Fort Lauderdale Station will also
connect with the Wave Train.
Palm Beach Post say that the All Aboard is also going
to Jacksonville sooner than thought.......
if they start buying the vacant land around the
Jacksonville Train Station that would be WOW.

[Lakelander]

I was told by a credible source a year ago that AAF had made contact inquiring about the future of the old Jax terminal and the publicly owned land surrounding it. I was also in a meeting in Daytona Beach, earlier this month, where city officials/community leaders were being encouraged to start lobbying for a station of their own.

New court documents point to All Aboard Florida service to Jacksonville

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.

full article: http://realtime.blog.palmbeachpost.c...-Jacksonville/

[eleven=11]

oh Daytona Beach is a good place
wonder if the locals there will protest it
like in palm beach.
probably not

[Lakelander]

Originally Posted by eleven=11

oh Daytona Beach is a good place
wonder if the locals there will protest it
like in palm beach.
probably not

I know for a fact that they won't. They'd welcome AAF with open arms. They've been lobbying to get Sunrail extended to their side of the county. Outside of Brevard, I wouldn't expect too much opposition heading north. The region is less populated and the only two places worth considering for stops before Jax (St. Augustine and Daytona Beach) are major tourism destinations.

[eleven=11]

the sun sentinel has a article about the
fort Lauderdale station, says that on Tuesday
they will show plans for the stations.........

[Lakelander]

Now for some dirt.....

Rick Scott adviser had inside track to keep All Aboard Florida rail project rolling

When Gov. Rick Scott ran for governor in 2010, the GOP establishment supported former Attorney General Bill McCollum.

So when Scott, a former health care executive, spent nearly $40 million of his own wealth to beat McCollum in the Republican primary, fences needed to be mended between the rookie politician and the party he now led.

Enter Adam Hollingsworth.

At the time of the 2010 primary, Hollingsworth was making $189,000-per-year as chief of staff to then-Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton.

He took a leave of absence, recruited by both the Republican Party of Florida chairman and Scott campaign manager Susie Wiles, to help fix the relationship between Scott and the party’s elite.

Hollingsworth became one of Scott’s most trusted advisers, a position he used to influence the administration’s rejection of billions in federal high-speed rail money, then later lobby for a rail project that would benefit his employer, according to emails, text messages and administration documents obtained by the Scripps/Tribune Capital Bureau.

full article: http://tbo.com/news/blogs/fresh-sque..._medium=Social