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November 2015

IT IS TIME TO GET PRACTICAL ABOUT AAF

CHARLES GERARDI - TCPALM

A storm is brewing. With or without All Aboard Florida, the likelihood of increased rail traffic rumbling through our community is real.

Even at current volumes, congestion from rail traffic impacts automobiles, boats and emergency response vehicles, is disruptive to our quality of life and impedes safety efforts.

We applaud the efforts of Treasure Coast counties, citizens groups and neighborhoods who have staunchly opposed All Aboard Florida. The Economic Council of Martin County reaffirms our wholehearted support in this opposition.

TREASURE COAST STILL NOT GIVING UP THE FIGHT VERSUS ALL ABOARD FLORIDA!!

Sally Swartz - PalmBeachPost.com

The fight to stop All Aboard Florida from ruining Treasure Coast downtowns and neighborhoods, slowing ambulances and endangering pedestrians at railway crossings is far from over.

In fact, a spokesman for Citizens Against Rail Expansion (CARE FL) said his group of 15,000 already has raised and spent $1.4 million and is working to raise another $1 million. The money adds to the $1.4 million Martin County has provided and the $2.4 million Indian River County kicked in to fight the proposed railway expansion.

CARE: REJECT COLUMNIST'S CONCLUSION

Citizens Against Rail Expansion in Florida (CARE FL) is a coalition created by a group of concerned community leaders, organizations and neighbors in South Florida and the Treasure Coast, emphasizing that continued rail expansion will have a significant and negative impact on our communities. Robert Crandall of Palm City, a member of the CARE FL Steering Committee, and also former CEO of American Airlines, comments on a recent column by TCPalm’s Rich Campbell:

ALL ABOARD FLORIDA COULD COST MARTIN COUNTY TAXPAYERS $7.7 MILLION BY 2030

According to a memo provided today to the Martin County Board of County Commissioners by county staff, projected costs of licenses, repairs/rehabilitation, and land leases associated with the Florida East Coast Railroad (FEC), Flagler Development Corporation (Flagler) and the proposed All Aboard Florida (AAF) high speed rail project could total $13.5 million by 2030 and $31.2 million by 2040.

IT'S CRUNCH TIME FOR ALL ABOARD FLORIDA

RICH CAMPBELL - TCPALM

The Super Bowl of transportation projects — All Aboard Florida's plan to run 32 daily passenger trains between Miami and Orlando starting in late 2017 — has entered the fourth quarter.

It's crunch time.

I wrote three months ago the marketplace is the final hope of Treasure Coast residents to stop All Aboard Florida. We've reached a critical juncture — where potential investors must decide if the project is worth the risk.

ALL ABOARD TRAIN NAME SWITCH CREATES NEW "BRIGHTLINE" LINGO

PALM BEACH POST - FRANK CERABINO

All Aboard Florida is going to be a high-concept product, and every high-concept product deserves its own vocabulary.

So I’ve been thinking all week how the branding of this Miami-to-Orlando passenger rail service as “Brightline” will eventually create its own local vocabulary.

“Gone will be the expectation for a gray or silver vehicle blending invisibly into the background,” All Aboard Florida President Michael Reininger announced this week. “We instead want to take the gray out of travel and replace it with a brighter outlook.”

STATEMENT FROM CARE FLORIDA REGARDING THE ALL ABOARD FLORIDA NAME CHANGE

"Today, All Aboard Florida announced a name change in a transparent attempt to distance the enterprise from a growing backlash of citizens who oppose or have serious concerns about the project. This PR move is intended to communicate the impression that All Aboard Florida is a done deal, when in fact, the project is far from finalized. Citizens Against Rail Expansion believes that this latest attempt to reinvent All Aboard Florida is to substitute a bright new impression of a tarnished project image.

ALL ABOARD FLORIDA OFFICIALLY CHANGES NAME TO "THE BRIGHTLINE"

MIAMINEWTIMES.COM - KYLE MUNZENRIEDER

If you've been following the development of All Aboard Florida, you've probably thought to yourself at one time or another, Wait, are they going to call it THAT? The answer is no. You won't be talking about jumping on the "All Aboard Florida train" to Orlando. In fact, the project has had a secret name all this time that will actually be used for the line, and that name was finally announced today.

It's the Brightline.

THE BOAT BUSINESS AND A FORT LAUDERDALE RAILROAD BRIDGE

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.