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December 8, 2009
YOUR NEW RIDE

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	What's next? • The Florida Department of Transportation has two key SunRail tasks immediately ahead of it, which could take about six months. FDOT must purchase the tracks from CSX, contingent on getting the federal money. It also must apply for the final full funding agreement from the Federal Transit Administration. • The feds are supposed to pay $307 million total toward construction, about one-quarter of the total costs. • Construction can begin only with the funding agreement from the feds, and the money likely will be doled out over the next couple of years. • Trains could begin to roll between DeBary and Sand Lake Road in south Orange County in late 2012. The second phase, extending rail's reach to Poinciana and DeLand, could begin service in 2014.

Promise of jobs helps push Legislature to approve SunRail -- trains could start rolling in late 2012

By Dan Tracy, Josh Hafenbrack and Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE -- Ending decades of bottlenecked ambitions for Central Florida mass transit, the Florida Legislature on Tuesday gave final approval to the SunRail train that's expected to start carrying passengers in 2012.

Twice a graveyard for the project in the past two years, the Florida Senate abruptly shifted course Tuesday and voted 27-10 to approve the 61-mile commuter line.

The legislation, now headed to Gov. Charlie Crist for his signature, reaches beyond Metro Orlando. It also lays the groundwork for a system of bullet trains connecting Florida's traffic-choked urban centers, although that's years off and would require billions of dollars in federal funding. And it sends much-needed cash to South Florida, where the Tri-Rail commuter train has been hemorrhaging money.

In approving a liability agreement that determines who pays for what in the case of an accident, the Senate cleared the way for the first leg of SunRail to roll from DeBary in Volusia County to downtown Orlando to Sand Lake Road in south Orange County. The line eventually will reach farther south in Osceola County.

"I'm very happy to bring this to a conclusion," said a beaming Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer as he waited to walk on the floor of the Senate after the final vote was taken.

Later, he released a statement comparing the impact of the bill to Henry Flagler's first railroad line in Florida. "A century later, a new kind of rail transit has given us the opportunity to transform our state once again and set Florida on course for a more prosperous future for generations to come," he said.

U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, likened the passage of SunRail to a kidney stone that had recently plagued him.

"They were equally painful," joked Mica, who has been pursuing a mass-transit plan in Central Florida since taking office in 1992 but had been stymied until Tuesday. "There is no question this is a milestone in the state's history."

Along with U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, Mica has been working to secure $307 million in federal money to pay for construction of the $1.2 billion venture. Almost $27 million already has been awarded to SunRail and another $40 million likely is on the way.

Mica said he is confident the remainder is coming. Mica and Brown also are seeking up to $270 million in federal stimulus money for the project, first proposed for the region in 1990.

It took three tries for SunRail to become a reality, and it seemed far from a lock when the Legislature called a special session that began Thursday. The House quickly passed out a bill and sent it Monday to the Senate, where SunRail was defeated by a 16-23 count in April.

Supporters were cautious, saying they thought they could get to the 21 votes needed to win.

The outlook for SunRail actually started changing in October, when Ray LaHood, the U.S. Department of Transportation secretary, announced that Florida would not be considered a serious contender for federal funding for a planned high-speed-rail train linking Orlando with Lakeland and Tampa without first demonstrating a commitment to commuter rail.

That prompted Orlando's delegation, led by Republican Sen. Andy Gardiner, to broaden the bill it brought to the Legislature to include money for the cash-strapped Tri-Rail commuter train in South Florida and to create an authority that would oversee all train projects in the state.

The notion was that the authority would also improve the state's bid for high-speed rail. Florida is seeking $2.6 billion. Federal officials are sifting through 45 requests from 24 states seeking a total of $50 billion for high-speed trains.

Another key was winning the eleventh-hour endorsement of the AFL-CIO, which had opposed SunRail and the surrounding legislation as a thinly veiled attempt at union busting. Talks between bill sponsors and union leaders went on for weeks and culminated in what AFL-CIO President Mike Williams called a compromise as the Senate took to the floor.

Details were sketchy, but the deal revolved around the union getting some assurances that up to 200 jobs held by its members would be protected when the state buys the tracks SunRail will run on from the CSX railroad company in Jacksonville.

"They had a greater degree of comfort," Senate President Jeff Atwater said of the union.

Between the union backing off and the high-speed-rail push, SunRail proponents were able to pick up 11 votes compared with the previous regular session. They also got more help from the governor, who personally lobbied senators during the week to get their support for the bill.

Atwater said the broad reach of the bill was important to its passage by a 27-10 count.

"The bill isn't about the fact that we had to have a bullet train," he said. "This was about creating a framework where local partnerships can develop locally. They made it again in Washington very clear. They said 'We're not going to provide you with funds — if we ever decide that Florida is right for high-speed — to put a bunch of parking garages at every stop. You build connectivity."

Among the votes that switched, four came from the Tampa Bay area: Republicans Victor Crist of Tampa, Mike Bennett of Bradenton, Nancy Detert of Venice and Dennis Jones of Venice. Two others came from Jacksonville: Republicans John Thrasher, who replaced Jim King, who died, and Stephen Wise. Republican Evelyn Lynn of Daytona Beach also switched from no to yes. Democrat Al Lawson of Tallahassee changed to yes, too, along with his fellow Democrats Dave Aronberg and Dan Gelber of South Florida.

The only vote to go from yes to no was Republican Carey Baker of Eustis. He said he was for SunRail but against high-speed rail because it was too costly. Democrat Gary Siplin of Orlando voted no as well.

The opposition was led by Republican Paula Dockery of Lakeland and Ronda Storms of Brandon. They said the bill placed too much liability on the state rather than CSX and that the project was too expensive. They offered two amendments to the bill that would have scuttled it, but both were rejected.

"What I tried to do today is say, 'Let's renegotiate the bad parts of this bill,'" Dockery said.

Storms, before casting a no vote, said, "I can see the winds are not with me right now."

Dan Tracy can be reached at dtracy@orlandosentinel.com. Aaron Deslatte can be reached at adeslatte@orlandosentinel.com. Josh Hafenbrack can be reached at jhafenbrack@sunsentinel.com