Downtown Miami Tri-Rail link in doubt after legislative inaction.
March 11, 2016
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/loca...640/tri%20rail
HIGHLIGHTS
*Tri-Rail officials had hoped for an amendment, which the Legislature killed.
*Questions of liability may kill Tri-Rail’s downtown Miami station.
*Agency executives say they’ll try to save the project.
BY DAVID SMILEY
dsmiley@miamiherald.com
Tri-Rail’s downtown Miami link looks like it’s on life-support after representatives of the commuter rail service failed to pass what they called crucial legislation in Tallahassee.
Officials with the public South Florida Regional Transportation Authority had hoped to get an amendment onto a transportation bill that would clarify who would be liable when a passenger train crashes on railway shared by public and private trains. But the bill passed without the amendment, which they had said was critical, since their link requires using the Florida East Coast Railway, a private line.
And they said it was imperative that the legislation pass this year, since Tri-Rail has planned to build a terminus into All Aboard’s MiamiCentral station, which is already under construction. Without the indemnification clarified, SFRTA authorities have feared the Florida Department of Transportation won’t commit the final $20 million they need to connect to downtown. That could mean All Aboard would back away from a Tri-Rail platform in its transit hub.
"IN THE NEXT WEEK, WE WILL EXPLORE WHAT OPTIONS -- IF ANY -- TO BRING TRI-RAIL TO DOWNTOWN"
Jack Stephens, executive director South Florida Regional Transportation AuthoritY
“We are deeply disappointed in the Legislature’s failure to act,” said Jack Stephens, executive director of the SFRTA. “In the next week, we will explore what options — if any — to bring Tri-Rail to downtown.”
If Tri-Rail’s bid to run trains into downtown dies — they’ve called piggybacking on All Aboard’s downtown station a one-time shot due to the high price of Miami real estate — it would be a blow to the politicians who pushed last year for $45 million in public funds to help pay for the project.
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* This is from post # 22 above in September of 2015 regarding the Insurance problem :
"The last $20 million is coming from the Florida Department of Transportation, which has not yet released the money due to an "insurance complication because of the interaction of private and public rail passengers on about a four-mile stretch of line near 71st Street," says the Miami Herald. Yes, that sounds silly, but Stephens has indicated to the Herald that he sees FDOT getting over it, and BOOM, here comes the choo choo.
So basically this Tri-Rail station @ the under construction All Aboard’s downtown Miami Central station may not come to fruition because of a "Insurance indemnification" issue covering just 4 miles of track.
http://cleantechnica.com/files/2015/...2.31.04-PM.png
^ We will lose the ability to build the Tri-Rail platforms in the diagram above because of the ineptitude of the Florida Legislature.
Unbelievable !!!