February 2017

Guest Column : Sen. Debbie Mayfield by TCPalm.

Original article posted by Jennifer Sorentrue of PalmBeachPost.com

A House panel on Wednesday got its first look at Senator Mayfield's bill, the Florida High-Speed Passenger Rail Safety Act, to regulate All Aboard Florida's Brightline passenger train service.

Original article by Hardy Thomas T. by Vero Communique

A top Obama Administration executive at the U.S. Department of Transportation approved a $647 million grant for a California rail project in mid-January. Not only two weeks later, the executive was found working for a Los Angeles-based contractor that was involved with the project that was given that large grant.

The driver of a passenger train died and several were injured in a head-on collision with a freight train in Luxembourg. The CLT rail company said in a statement that the passenger train went through a stop signal. Images show. Luckily, no passengers were aboard the passenger train. Meanwhile crew worked to pick up the mess of the smashed and derailed cars, traffic into France was suspended for at least 48 hours.

22 rail cars were sent into the mucky, swollen Cosumnes River in Elk Grove, CA this past Saturday. The KCRA reports the train was carry food products, and had three people onboard, but luckily no one was injured.

There were reports that there was a levee break near the derailment, but it is unclear if it caused the train derailment.

California Republicans in Congress asked the Trump administration to block $650 million in federal grants for high-speed railway linking. In the letter, they stated that the money which "would come on top of more than $3.5 billion" would be an "irresponsible use of taxpayer dollars."

The election season upon us. A "I-Hate-All-Aboard-Florida-More-Than-My-Opponent" rhetoric is already beginning to reveal itself. For example, a flier for an event on April 16 proclaims:  “Please join us at Meridian Marina for a concert, meet and greet, and fundraiser for the Treasure Coast commissioners that are leading the charge against All Aboard Florida.”