Passenger Trains > A Congressman at work (Florida)

All Aboard Florida was not too happy about this:

http://patrickmurphy.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=376076

In response, AAF has revamped its website to better present the facts:

http://www.allaboardflorida.com/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/14 13:13 by ts1457.

I don't get this part, "Structure the new AAF train schedule to avoid significantly delaying emergency vehicles at grade crossings..."

How could a train schedule be tweaked so as to avoid delaying emergency vehicles, which by their very nature, are called upon with complete unpredictability at their time of need?

I thought the headline was too good to be true!

ColdRainAndSnow Wrote:
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> I don't get this part, "Structure the new AAF
> train schedule to avoid significantly delaying
> emergency vehicles at grade crossings..."
>
> How could a train schedule be tweaked so as to
> avoid delaying emergency vehicles, which by their
> very nature, are called upon with complete
> unpredictability at their time of need?


Of course if you had no trains. . . . Isn't that the idea?

It appears their contribution to the congressman didn't arrive on time. That smacks of obstructionism of the worst kind. The government is supposed to be doing things for the people not to them.

Oddly enough, it would appear that AAF would have to do an EIS to be eligible for the RRIF Loan. If an EIS is produced that would contain a lot of the info that the good Congressman is asking public disclosure of. So I think Secretary Foxx is scratching his head wondering what to make of this piece of grandstanding.

And this is from Palm Beach County which actually gets a stop and hence access to the service. Counties further north like St. Lucie, Martin, Indian River and Brevard just have the pleasure of having trains zoom by requiring additional expenditure on grade crossing safety etc. but with no service provided by those trains to them. None!

When I was down in Martin County last month there was considerable local coverage of groups objecting to the AAF project. Among the objections were speed of trains through communities with open rights-of-way like Stuart and Jensen Beach, more frequent closing of drawbridges, and lack of local service - i.e. no benefit to impacted communities.

Dave

a737flyer Wrote:
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> It appears their contribution to the congressman
> didn't arrive on time. That smacks of
> obstructionism of the worst kind. The government
> is supposed to be doing things for the people not
> to them.

He is doing exactly what he should be doing, passing along the concerns of the people he represents. Here is a copy of the letter some of his constituents sent him concerning this subject last month.

http://thelibertycaucus.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Stuart-Opposes-All-Aboard-Florida.pdf



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/14 14:20 by Typhoon.

DavidP Wrote:
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> When I was down in Martin County last month there
> was considerable local coverage of groups
> objecting to the AAF project. Among the
> objections were speed of trains through
> communities with open rights-of-way like Stuart
> and Jensen Beach, more frequent closing of
> drawbridges, and lack of local service - i.e. no
> benefit to impacted communities.
>
> Dave

Yes. I've mentioned these specific issues in the past, and the concern among many people in Stuart and Jensen Beach about the new trains.

Although people like the IDEA of new fast trains, it's gradually sinking in that they won't be stopping in either of these towns.

I was in Stuart at the beginning of March, and mentioned here the issues with a nearly 200 car FEC freight train passing through the center of town early in the evening. Probably took 12-15 minutes to pass the Hoffmann's Ice Cream, where I was watching. This long train likely fouled all crossings from the draw bridge to Monterey Road.

Congressman Murphy's office is opposite the train tracks in Stuart center.

NIMBYS at their worse with no common sense as ususal!

Not to get too excited about this, but recall that when DM&E try to get a Federal loan for the coal train project, local interests in Rochester, Minn., succeeded in pressuring the FRA to deny the loan since they did not want the trains rolling through the city. I hope not, but I can see how this could eventually lead to the Feds denying the loan, and then what becomes of AAF's plans?

There's a separate conversation underway about whether to add bridges over the railroad in Stuart, perhaps in the A1A / Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Indian Street, etc. The hospital is on the east side of the tracks, much of the population is on the west side.

Patrick Murphy is in a difficult contest for re-election. As a first term congressman, he can't afford to antagonize too many voters.

The project is likely going nowhere. As more people find out about it, opposition will develop, as people begin to worry about the threat to their way of life and property values.

reindeerflame Wrote:
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> The project is likely going nowhere. As more
> people find out about it, opposition will develop,
> as people begin to worry about the threat to their
> way of life and property values.

I agree it will become far more complex. One possible outcome is injection of public funds to support Tri Rail extension to Martin and St Lucie Counties, which would benefit the local area, but also require additional infrastructure. AAF has tried to avoid this so as not to have to go through public procurement processes for construction, but in the end that may be unavoidable.

Dave

reindeerflame Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The project is likely going nowhere. As more
> people find out about it, opposition will develop,
> as people begin to worry about the threat to their
> way of life and property values.

I dunno. I spend a few weeks in the Stuart area every winter, and many people generally LIKE the idea of commuter trains to West Palm and Miami. And, fast trains to Orlando. And, really like the idea of Amtrak or somebody else offering trains to DC and NY.

There is a substantial community of people in northern Palm Beach county, Martin county, St Lucie county, and Indian River county who are very hard core conservatives. The letters to the editor of the Stuart News, Treasure Coast Palm etc are filled with birther nonsense, and more serious discussions of the cost of rail improvements, the wars, welfare, foreign aid, etc.

What may be going on is local officials and residents believed that the new fast trains to Orlando and Miami would stop in Stuart. As that possibility recedes, some people are feeling deceived.

reindeerflame Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The project is likely going nowhere. As more
> people find out about it, opposition will develop,
> as people begin to worry about the threat to their
> way of life and property values.

I think ultimately AAF and FEC will have to offer a package deal wherein the HSR service to Orlando is supplemented by service with more stops from the Space Coast at least to Miami to win over the northern counties.

AAF signed an odd agreement with the Beach line Toll Authority that they will not carry passengers from anywhere north of West Palm Beach to Orlando because apparently someone thinks that will adversely affect the Toll Revenues of Beach Line. So now they are stuck in this bit of a pickle. I know there is some opposition developing in Brevard county too, though it is not as firmly gelled as further south.

The worry about property values is mostly a red herring. Whenever good rail service has become available to centers of commerce in the area, property values have always gone up, not down. Actually there was one case in NJ where there was a huge protest because people though that property values will go up so much that they will be priced out of the market, and indeed that is exactly what happened. Very significant gentrification followed. So yes, the worry about the way of life is genuine, specially if it involves being not so well to do.

Steve55126 Wrote:
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> Not to get too excited about this, but recall that
> when DM&E try to get a Federal loan for the coal
> train project, local interests in Rochester,
> Minn., succeeded in pressuring the FRA to deny the
> loan since they did not want the trains rolling
> through the city. I hope not, but I can see how
> this could eventually lead to the Feds denying the
> loan, and then what becomes of AAF's plans?

If the FRA loans were turned down Fortress has more than enough capital to proceed and not have to deal with as many hoops to jump through. If AAF is truly projected to be profitable then there should be no fear in making it an actual privately funded venture instead of resorting to using Federal loans which is one of the "bones of contention" from the opposition. Also, the boating community has become very vocal about the three drawbridges being lowered an additional 32 times a day.

AAF has said that the RRIF loan is one of the several debt instruments they are exploring for financing the upgrade of the FEC trackage between Miami and Cocoa, which involves adding another track in the ROW and upgrading one track to 110mph between West Palm Beach and Cocoa.

So the RRIF loan falling through is not considered to be a showstopper by AAF.

railwaybaron Wrote:
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> I thought the headline was too good to be true!

The headline threw me...A Congressman at "WORK"?

..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/14 22:40 by darkcloud.