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September 2016

NEW JERSEY TRAIN CRASH HEIGHTENS RAIL-SAFETY CONCERNS

WALL STREET JOURNAL
ANDREW TANGEL, TED MANN and MIKE VILENSKY

A New Jersey commuter train crashed into a busy railroad terminal Thursday morning, killing one person, the latest in a series of fatal passenger train accidents around the country.

Mass transit is enjoying a resurgence in many U.S. cities. But the accidents highlight that financially strapped passenger railroads are struggling to quickly install the latest safety technologies, and in some cases have prioritized keeping trains moving over using fail-safe systems they already have.

TCPALM: AAF SLIGHTED MARTIN COUNTY BY FAILING TO LOOK WEST

 

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."

TCPALM: ALL ABOARD FLORIDA IGNORED VIABLE WESTERN CORRIDOR

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.

ALL ABOARD FLORIDA'S PLAN IS IN JEOPARDY

Ann Henson Feltgen - FloridaBulldog.org

All Aboard Florida’s plan to operate regular passenger train service between Miami and Orlando is in jeopardy following a federal judge’s order questioning the company’s ability to borrow $1.75 billion in taxpayer-backed federal bonds to pay for the project.

At the same time, in a lawsuit filed by two Florida counties looking to block the project, the judge found that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) ignored federal law when it issued bonding authority for Phase II of the private rail project from Cocoa to Orlando.