Read our most recent All Aboard Florida articles


locomotive-221159A-text-460pAll Aboard Florida is a high speed passenger rail system proposed by Florida East Coast Industries, LLC (FECI) in 2012, a Delaware for-profit limited liability company. The proposed project for southeast Florida would run 32 daily passenger trains from Orlando to Miami with two intermediate stops – one in West Palm Beach (Palm Beach County) and Ft. Lauderdale (Broward County). Most of the 235 mile run will be on the 100 year old right-of-way owned by FECI’s sister company Florida East Coast Railway, LLC.

There are no proposed stops on the run from West Palm Beach to Orlando segment, which will run at train speeds up to 110 miles per hour barreling down through the middle of four northern counties, bisecting their town and cities – whisking business and luxury traveler riders from Orlando to the south counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach. Over 25,000 residents of the affected area have already signed a petition opposing the All Aboard Florida project. 29 local town, city, county and homeowner associations have passed Resolutions opposing the All Aboard Florida project on various grounds including safety, emergency response, highway traffic disruption, property value reduction, and general quality of life in the affected area.

All Aboard Florida initially touted that it was an “all private” enterprise not relying on any government subsidy. However, the public has subsequently learned that All Aboard Florida has applied to the Federal Railroad Administration for a $1.5 billion Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing (RRIF) low-interest loan guaranteed by taxpayers of the federal government. Additionally, there are over a dozen state FDOT rail projects proposed to help improve the Florida East Coast rail corridor. On top of that, the proposed 235 mile route consists of 353 highway grade crossings – many of which will need to be upgraded, more than likely at the cost to local jurisdictions of tens of millions of dollars. There are many reasons not to like All Aboard Florida. Who benefits from All Aboard Florida?

Significant opposition to All Aboard Florida has arisen from a coalition of grassroots organizations, which have coalesced around the organization Florida NOT All Aboard (FNAA). Visit the FNAA website, and the FNAA facebook page. Sign the Petition opposing the Choo Choo. Let your voice be heard. Get involved.

 

Martin Talks!
K.C. Traylor, Founder of Florida NOT All Aboard hosts a weekly half hour radio show called MARTIN TALKS!.  If you live in the Martin County area, tune into:
     Radio Station WSTU 1450 AM
     Every Thursday at 6 PM
K.C. updates you with the latest news from Florida NOT All Aboard. Additionally, K.C. brings you upcoming issues local to Martin County. Click here for more information about Martin Talks! along with an online archive of Martin Talks! shows.