1. Home
  2. Monthly archive
  3. February 2019

February 2019

NEW CITIZENS GROUP FIGHTS FOR HIGH-SPEED RAIL SAFETY

NEW GROUP FLORIDA ALLIANCE FOR SAFE TRAINS (FAST) TAKES A STAND TO FIGHT FOR HIGH-SPEED RAIL SAFETY. Their goal is to have high-speed passenger rail like Virgin Trains USA/Brightline to "operate as safely as possible without using taxpayer dollars."

Learn more about FAST at their Facebook page here.

Read more here.

WE NEED YOUR HELP | JOIN US FOR THE FDFC BOARD MEETING MARCH 6 AT 2:30 PM!

CALL TO ACTION!!

THIS IS BIG! The Florida Development Finance Corporation decided to accept the county’s request to move their board meeting to approve the Private Activity Bonds to a closer venue – Orlando BUT, they also moved the date up to MARCH 6 at 2:30 pm!

TRAIN WRECK TIMES | THEY'RE AT IT AGAIN!

The Train Wreck Times by Susan Mehiel

They’re at it again! Earlier his week we received word from IRC that the Florida Development Finance Corporation is reviewing ANOTHER Private Activity Bond Request from Virgin Trains in addition to the $1.1 Billion they haven’t sold and the $600 million already sold. This approval would be for $950,000,000 in PAB’s and brings their allotment of taxpayer-subsidized funding to a grand total of $2.7 Billion.

THE FUTURE OF HIGH SPEED RAIL

FULL SPEED AHEAD, SAYS VIRGIN TRAIN USA SAYS (FORMERLY BRIGHTLINE) DESPITE FRESH CONCERNS WHETHER THE PROJECT WILL HAVE ENOUGH FUNDS TO PAY FOR ITS EXPANSION. According to financial documents, Virgin Trains USA is at an $82 million loss in nine months and have recently decided to abandon a $500 million stock sale.

"They're bleeding money like crazy," commented Richard Rampell, CPA with MBAF in Palm Beach. "Based on the results that have happened so far, they've got a long way to go before they become profitable."

PRIVATE OWNERS OF FLORIDA’S PASSENGER TRAIN PROJECT SEEK NEW BONDING

THE FLORIDA DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CORPORATION IS SET TO APPROVE $950 MILLION OF PABS UNDER THE TAX EQUITY AND FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT FOR BRIGHTLINE MARCH 11. If approved, Brightline will receive a collective of $2.7 billion.

Meanwhile, Brightline is facing two lawsuits filed by Indian River County.

Indian River County attorney Dylan Reingold plans to request that the FDFC meeting “be conducted somewhere along the corridor of the project” and “will file an injunction” if the meeting location is not changed.

BRIGHTLINE AND TRI-RAIL HAVE KILLED DOZENS

EVERY OTHER WEEK, WE RECEIVE NEWS THAT ANOTHER PEDESTRIAN HAS BEEN STRUCK AND KILLED BY TRAIN. Since the initial test runs for the Brightline (now named Virgin Trains USA) high-speed passenger rail service in January of 2017, 15 people have been killed and at least 10 have been seriously injured. To top it off, Brightline still refuses to improve or maintain any of the 178 crossings the trains bullet through up to 110 mph. They say 67 of those crossings have supplemental features, but those crossings do not have full-closure barriers that span the entire intersection.

VIRGIN TRAINS USA SIDETRACKS PLANNED $538 MILLION IPO

As background, Indian River County has appealed Federal Judge Cooper’s decision in favor of Brightline at a cost of $400,000 to IRC. One of their claims is that the PABs are designed as highway bonds and not rail bonds. If the Judge’s decision is overturned and the $1.7B Private Activity Bonds (PAB) have been sold, these bonds will be recalled.  

If they have not been purchased, bondholders will have to factor in the possibility that these bonds may be recalled at a future date.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SHOULD REJECT $3.7 BILLION LOAN TO JAPANESE-OWNED COMPANY FOR FLORIDA HIGHER-SPEED RAIL PROJECT OPERATING ON MEXICAN COMPANY-OWNED LINE

THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION MAY APPROVE A $3.7 BILLION RAILROAD REHABILITATION & IMPROVEMENT FINANCING (RRIF) LOAN TO VIRGIN TRAINS, owned by SoftBank Group based in Tokyo, to build a high-speed passenger train project on a freight rail line owned by Grupo Mexico.

SoftBank Group and Grupo Mexico could easily afford to issue their own bonds to cover these costs.