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State Finalizes Rail Deal With CSX

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By LINDSAY PETERSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 30, 2007

ORLANDO - Florida and CSX Transportation officials have reached an agreement on a nearly half-billion-dollar deal to bring commuter rail to Central Florida and help CSX expand its statewide freight operations.

About a third of the $491 million will go for the purchase of 61 miles of CSX track in the Orlando area. The rest will be used to help Jacksonville-based CSX improve tracks elsewhere in the state and open a major hub in Polk County.

Building the platforms, stations and other elements of the Deltona-to-Poinciana commuter system will take $615 million more in federal, state and local tax money.

The agreement is not the last hurdle, however. The Florida Legislature and Federal Transit Administration have yet to approve money for the project.

U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, announced the agreement on Thursday at an Amtrak station in Winter Park. "I understand it's on the governor's desk. I don't know when the state officials will announce it."

"This is an important project, not just for Central Florida but for the whole state," he said. "This agreement was the key ingredient."

Mica made the announcement alone Thursday, in sharp contrast to the event in August 2006, when state officials trumpeted their preliminary agreement with CSX. That day, Mica appeared with then-Gov. Jeb Bush, CSX Chief Executive Officer Michael Ward and a small crowd of state and local officials.

The CSX deal was a high priority for Bush, who left office after two terms when Charlie Crist took over as governor this year. Crist has yet to say publicly what he thinks about the project. He has met at least three times in private or public with CSX officials since becoming governor, but neither he nor his aides have responded to several requests for comment from The Tampa Tribune.

The CSX-commuter rail project has taken years to put together, requiring hard-won commitments from the federal government and local officials in the four Central Florida counties - Orange, Volusia, Seminole and Osceola - that were asked to help pay the commuter rail costs.

Lawmakers Angry Over Secrecy

Several state lawmakers have begun to criticize the project, however, largely because so much of the planning was carried out without their knowledge.

The state money to be used was allocated through a massive transportation bill in 2005. Only a handful of the lawmakers involved, primarily those from Central Florida, knew that it entailed giving money to CSX, however.

State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, has said he plans to hold hearings before the session begins in spring. He said he wants to question Department of Transportation officials about how much tax money is going to the private railroads that operate in Florida, of which CSX is the largest.

In Polk County, opposition has developed among people who think the Orlando area is benefiting at Polk's expense.

In the CSX deal, the state will buy 61 miles of the CSX tracks between Deltona and Poinciana. To compensate the company for the loss of that line, the state will also help CSX pay the cost of improving a roughly parallel track from Jacksonville to Winter Haven, where CSX plans to build a major hub.

Polk Officials Not Happy

Lakeland officials complain that the increase in train and truck traffic through the city could undo years of work to improve the city's core.

Lakeland City Commissioner Gow Fields said he doesn't like the project because it ignores the need for passenger rail in other regions. Imagine, he said, if when the state began Interstate 4, it only built 61 miles and made no plans for the rest.

"I can't fathom that we're going to spend half a billion dollars, and we don't have a plan for doing commuter rail across the entire I-4 corridor," Fields said at a public meeting last month in Lakeland on the CSX-commuter rail project.

Not only is there no immediate plan for passenger rail in the Tampa Bay area, but the CSX deal also is likely to make it harder to build any kind of commuter system here without laying expensive new tracks.

With its state-funded improvements, CSX has said it plans to haul more freight between Tampa and Lakeland and has made it clear that it doesn't want to sell any tracks in the area, as it has in Orlando.

Mica said there's still hope for the Tampa area to get commuter rail.

"Never say never," he said, "It's possible CSX would be willing to relocate lines."

It won't happen without local officials being willing to spend tax money, however. Local officials in Central Florida have agreed to pay about $153 million to build their commuter system. An additional $154 million will come from the state and $307 million will come from the federal government - if both the state Legislature and Federal Transit Agency approve.

Mica said he expects the approvals will come through in time to begin construction next year and be in operation by 2010.

"We had four counties that agreed on this," which was the major hurdle of the project, he said. "We've moved too far forward."

Reporter Lindsay Peterson can be reached at (813) 259-7834 or lpeterson@tampatrib.com

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