Gov. Charlie Crist signed Florida's passenger rail bill into law Wednesday in ceremonies in Tampa and three other cities while delivering the message that new rail equals thousands of new jobs. More than 150 Tampa Bay area elected officials, business people and transportation advocates turned out at a vacant lot just south of the intersection of Interstate 275 and Interstate 4, where a high-speed rail station is planned for a proposed Tampa-to-Orlando route. The bill will improve the state's chances at winning federal stimulus money for the high-speed rail line that could be built by 2014. It also will jump-start the $1.2 billion SunRail project planned for Central Florida, create a new statewide rail authority and dedicate additional state money to Tri-Rail, South Florida's faltering commuter line. The high-speed project could provide as many as 15,000 construction jobs beginning in 2011 if the Obama administration approves the state's $2.5 billion high-speed rail bid, state officials said in its federal stimulus application. "Jobs, jobs, jobs is what it's really all about," Crist said. ...more

December 17, 2009

Gov. Charlie Crist signed Florida's passenger rail bill into law this morning in ceremonies in Tampa and three other cities while delivering the message that new rail equals thousands of new jobs. ...more

December 16, 2009

U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio refused Monday to say how he would vote on the controversial SunRail proposal now being considered by the state Legislature, even though a similar proposal passed the state House with his support as speaker in 2008. ...more

December 8, 2009

A conservative state senator stunned his colleagues on Thursday when he announced that he was switching his "yes" vote on a commuter rail proposal to "no." Other senators who voted "no" in the past said they don't know how they will vote this time -- leaving the future of SunRail and TriRail all the more uncertain. ...more

December 3, 2009

A special December session of the Legislature is being pushed by Gov. Charlie Crist and Senate President Jeff Atwater to show the Obama administration that Florida is serious about supporting rail transit. ...more

October 21, 2009

In a just world, the defeat in the Legislature of a questionable proposal to buy a CSX track for a commuter train in the Orlando area would not hurt independent efforts in the Tampa Bay area to build its own rail project. ...more

May 11, 2008

Only one piece of the state's multimillion-dollar deal with CSX Transportation remains to be settled, but obstacles to the plan are mounting, because of questions from state lawmakers and moves by federal officials. ...more

February 23, 2008

CSX Transportation's demand that Florida assume liability for any accidents on a proposed Orlando commuter line should be enough to scuttle the deal. ...more

February 19, 2008

A federal requirement for a new study of the effect of running more freight trains through Polk County could delay a commuter rail project at the center of the state's multimillion deal with CSX Transportation. ...more

February 15, 2008

A new catch emerged Wednesday in the state's nearly half-billion-dollar deal with CSX Transportation. ...more

February 9, 2008