State winning great train race

The nation's first downtown station for a super-fast passenger train is going to be in Tampa. Being first has huge advantages in the hot competition for federal dollars for high-speed rail.

Money follows good plans, and Florida's plans are the best.

Congress will have a vested interest in making sure the Tampa-Orlando line gets going on schedule. The first round of funding competition has made it obvious that the fastest trains are too expensive to be built across every state that wants them.

But it's also hard to see what could stop the momentum that will lay tracks across Florida and bring significant and lasting economic stimulus.

Within a year, actual construction of 84 miles of track between here and the Orlando airport will begin. Already, preliminary work is under way, including public outreach and aerial photography.

Florida asked the federal government for $2.5 billion for the Tampa-Orlando line. It received only half that amount, plus assurances of more later. More almost certainly will come because a lot is riding on Florida's success. And no state has done more than Florida to make sure taxpayers' big investment pays off.

The Legislature created the Florida Statewide Passenger Rail Commission to evaluate policy and give informed advice to lawmakers. It also created the Florida Rail Enterprise to oversee all passenger rail and make sure state and local systems work together. The state Department of Transportation wisely preserved right of way for rail on the Interstate 4 median back when such planning seemed pointless to many people.

Of 31 states receiving a share of the $8 billion in federal money available this year for high-speed rail, only Florida and California had proposals for futuristic trains going over 150 mph. And only Florida is really up to speed with its plans. It is going to be issuing bid invitations by the end of October.

California has a more ambitious vision, but an auditor recently noted that the state's vague concept of a $43 billion system far exceeds available resources. Rail opposition is getting more vocal there, while Florida's plan is quietly rolling toward reality as early as 2015.

The state's plans show a station on Franklin Street in Tampa, just south of I-275. Either an express bus or local rail will connect west to the Tampa airport. The rapid-rail tracks going east will hug the interstate and cross over to the I-4 median near 19th street. The tracks will be doubled all the way to Orlando, so east-bound and west-bound trains can operate at the same time. Possibly, the Lakeland station will have a pull-off so Tampa-Orlando express trains can fly through without even slowing down.

Florida will extend the high-speed track all the way to Miami as soon as more federal assistance is available.

The state has a big responsibility, to Miami and the rest of the country as well, to get its part of the rail plan done right. Whether additional money is allocated depends in part on whether the new projects attract enough paying riders to make a profit for operators.

Naysayers should remember the nation will be strengthening its economy and security by diversifying its transportation system. A nation without transportation options can easily be paralyzed - witness the aftermath of 9-11 when air travel came to a halt or the complications caused by the Iceland volcano. Moreover, a fast train in Central Florida will have considerable appeal to tourists and business executives.

One criticism of the fastest trains is that the leading designs are foreign. Europe and Japan are far ahead of the United States in this area. But American manufacturers can catch up. At slower speeds, they are competitive now.

In recent testimony to a congressional committee, John S. Hamilton, the president of Electro-Motive Diesel Inc. of Illinois, said that his business is very good. His company, founded in 1922, is the only maker of diesel-electric locomotives to have produced more than 70,000 engines. He exports to more than 70 countries, and his exports in the past five years have doubled.

His point was an important one in the ongoing rail debate: "The highest speed rail (such as the Tampa-Orlando train) involves building new lines ... which will result in significantly higher costs ..."

Most of the nation's new trains will be slower - no faster than 125 mph - because they are more practical for more cities and can be put on existing rights of way and built immediately by U.S. companies such as his.

He is not exaggerating, because his company built a locomotive that went 112 mph way back in 1934.

Criticism is likely to increase as rail plans move along, but a better national rail network is a realistic ambition. Florida will have the fastest segment for the foreseeable future, and that's something this tourist state can easily live with.