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June 29, 2009
Commuter train plan is alive and well, supporters say

Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer

U.S. Rep. John Mica had a warning Monday for those who oppose the proposed SunRail commuter train for Central Florida.

"SunRail is very much alive," the Winter Park Republican said. "It will not die easily."

He was speaking at a news conference called to discuss the latest resurrection of the $1.2 billion project, which was rejected in the state Legislature last month for the second time in two years.

While many thought the train was finished when the Legislature voted against the plan in May, Mica and other backers, including Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, refused to give up.

Last week, in a development first reported by the Orlando Sentinel, Dyer, Mica and others negotiated an extension to a proposed contract with CSX, the Jacksonville train company that owns the tracks that SunRail would use.

The deadline to buy the tracks was today June 30 , but that purchase was impossible without an insurance policy nixed by the Legislature.

A letter released Monday from CSX indicates the company is willing to work another six months on a possible deal for the train, which would run for 61 miles from DeLand in Volusia County through downtown Orlando to Poinciana in Osceola County.

State Sen. Lee Constantine, who attended Monday's event, said he hopes to return to the Legislature on behalf of SunRail during an as yet unscheduled special session this fall.

The train, he said, was hurt the past two years because lawmakers could use it as a bargaining chip for other pet projects.

"Having it in the light of day, by itself, without any other issues, will help," said Constantine, R- Altamonte Springs.

Dyer hopes to blunt the insurance criticism by having CSX assume more risk, particularly when its employees are at fault.

Critics also have decried the high cost of SunRail, saying it amounts to corporate welfare.

But Mica said he intends to win even more money from the federal government — close to $250 million — from the nearly $800 billion stimulus package approved earlier this year by the Congress.

The federal representatives, Dyer and Mica said, stressed that SunRail is critical to state hopes of building a high-speed train because they want it to connect to anther form of mass transit.

Dan Tracy can be reached at dtracy@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5444.