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COVID-RELATED RIDERSHIP DROPS AND LONG-TERM POPULATION TRENDS ARE RAISING HARD QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE SHINKANSEN NETWORK OF HIGH-SPEED TRAINS. Will Brightline be able to be substantial service and evolve with its community as the Shinkansen network will have to?

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THE CITY OF STUART IS READY TO MAKE A FINAL DECISION FOR A BRIGHTLINE STATION WITHIN DAYS, reports TCPalm. The City Commision is set to send demographic information to Brightline, the first step toward possibly establishing a station.

The proposed information suggests three locations. Commissioners are also set to review survey results that had asked residents whether they wanted a Brightline station in their area.

FLORIDA RECORD - CARRIE SALLS

Citizens Against Rail Expansion in Florida (CARE FL) voiced its support for Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties in their challenge of environmental permits issued in connection with All Aboard Florida’s Miami-to-Orlando railway project.  

Federal and state agencies soon will receive a new suggested route for All Aboard Florida, one which would skirt Martin County yet still cut through other areas of the Treasure Coast.

The Martin County Commission  on Tuesday approved submitting this alternative route proposal to the Federal Railroad Administration, Florida Department of Transportation and South Florida Water Management District.

"I think this is a great alternative," Commissioner John Haddox said. "It should have been studied from the get-go."

All Aboard Florida ignored a viable western railway corridor — one that would take Brightline passenger trains away from Martin County coastal communities — when preparing its federal environmental report, according to an engineering consultant for the county.

Consultant Rick Creech's report is to be released to the County Commission Tuesday.

Talking with people who make their living based on boats and many quickly mention what they think is the biggest threat to their livelihood -- a bridge. That single bridge crosses the New River near downtown Fort Lauderdale. Florida East Coast Railway operates the bridge, which handles freight traffic now. However, with All Aboard Florida's plans to run passenger rail service from Miami to Orlando over the same tracks, South Florida's marine industry worries what that rail traffic could mean for the flow of its business on the water.

Giant backhoes claw into the ground, as helmeted workers position rebar atop of concrete pillars 100 feet tall. Cranes, trucks and teams of workers toil through a construction site here large enough to fit three Empire State Buildings, laying end to end.

More than 2,000 miles north, workers at the Port of New York and New Jersey are busy with their own colossal project: raising a bridge 64 feet, dredging the muck and mud of a harbor to deepen its waters and laying down new railroad lines.