June 2014

By Frank Cerabino Tuesday, June 17, 2014 - Palm Beach Post

"The Freedom of Information Act is a good tool for citizens. If a company is doing business with any agency, Federal, State, County or Municipal, the citizens deserve the right to know. Take that FOIA away, reject all of the funding requested from the company.
Ridership studies quoted (relative to AAF's own pre-ridership study) http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-..."

"There isn't a chance that these trains will ever stop on the Treasure Coast. Contrary to the vague comments from the Railroad. The whole purpose of this train is to move large numbers of people from Miami to Orlando for the benefit of Disney World. To add additional stops would extend the trip beyond 3 hrs which is not acceptable to the Railroad. In addition to the numerous downsides for the Treasure Coast involving economics, safety and quality of life issues the additional problems in downtown Stuart will severely impact growth in the area."

By Barbara Liston un. 10, 2014, 7:15 PM

ORLANDO Fla. (Reuters) - A privately financed high-speed train connection linking Orlando and Miami is facing mounting opposition in Florida from communities the train will pass without stopping.

Almost a dozen small towns and counties on Florida’s east coast, mainly in the route's middle section, have passed or are considering resolutions or letters of concern about the All Aboard Florida rail link, citing traffic, environmental and financial concerns.

Safety concerns abound for All Aboard Florida. Thank you, Sir, for calling attention to this navigation matter. AAF should not be railroaded through without all safety concerns being properly addressed. Clearly, the more AAF issues that arise, the more apparent it is that the tracks must be moved off the water, away from the hearts of downtowns, and away from the 340+ at-grade crossings/ intersections with vehicles and pedestrians along the proposed AAF corridor.

Source article here

As All Aboard Florida continues with its plan for high speed passenger rail service from Miami to Orlando, bits and pieces of the plan have become more evident. Within a brief period of time that the public has become aware of the plan, most of the citizen concerns have been focused on public safety, noise and other quality of life issues.

By Ayn Marie Samuelson, Guest columnist for Florida Today

There are too many unknowns and hidden agendas to support All Aboard Florida's push for high-speed passenger rail by the newly incorporated Florida East Coast Industries, LLC (FECI).

FECI has applied for a $1.5 billion loan from the federal government under the Federal Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing Program. Pretty clever to go for the big dollars at taxpayer expense and risk, with no track record of success and insufficient assets on its own to secure this big-ticket loan.

I am a Treasure Coast resident. You all down in Miami don't know what kind of long-term damage this is going to do up here. We don't need it - no passenger service will ever be sustainable on its own. They all require subsidies. Into the future, this one will as well. Also, why is AAF starting work on the rails up here when the Federal Railroad Administration has not even released the Draft Environmental Impact Study? We haven't even gone to the "meetings" for public comment to the FRA before the Final Environmental Impact Study is to be released in 2 years. That's right.

Public monies--taxpayer monies---at the federal, state, and local levels are being sought to fund this AAF boondoggle. While the AAF "infrastructure program is being instituted with private-sector dollars,” as Reininger says, in reality it's the public being squeezed to cough up safety and infrastructure systems for this quasi high speed rail that provides no economic benefits to 4 of the 8 counties it will travel through---but is quite the safety nightmare.