FEC passenger service 'six to 12 years away'

By Dale M. King
Boca Raton News
CITY EDITOR
Posted February 2, 2009
 
Neil Haynie of Boca Raton remembers riding on Florida East Coast passenger trains in his youth.

"And I would like to do it again, in my lifetime," he recently told those involved in the South Florida East Coast Corridor Transit Analysis Study – a project aimed at bringing some type of rail service to the freight-only railway.

The meeting, held at the Boca Raton Community Center, was one of 12 scheduled this month in communities along the FEC line that runs from Miami to Jupiter. Another session will be held in Delray Beach Feb. 11.

Anyone looking to board an FEC passenger train has a good long wait – six to 12 years, said Sue Gibbons of Gannett Fleming, the consulting firm working on the rail study.

Still, the panel sees light at the end of the tunnel, even though they admit that the FEC – the railroad built by multi-millionaire Henry Morrison Flagler – is highly protective of its profitable freight service.

In fact, after the last passenger train rattled down the line some 40 years ago, the railroad tore up the second track in many areas. Officials doing the study said only about half the FEC is double tracked.

Double It

"We will have to double track it," said Scott Seeburger from the Florida Department of Transportation. "Right now, the FEC doesn't want to share a track. They feel they will be hurt by passenger traffic."

Actually, the study done so far says the FEC corridor is wide enough for four sets of tracks. And the tracks don't always have to be the same size. The panel is looking at a variety of different transit modes such as regional rail, regional bus, light rail, bus rapid transit and rail rapid transit.

Gibbons noted that in San Diego, the rail line has three different sets of tracks for various types of transit vehicles.

City Councilwoman Susan Haynie, the board's go-to person on transit issues, said restoration of passenger rail service is "an important initiative," one that will bring "a regional solution."

She attended the meeting and afterward, noted that the study group did not address funding.

Railway Alignment

Gibbons, who led the discussion along with Seeburger and Gannett Fleming colleague Robert McMullen, said the group has not yet reached the point of asking for cash. The project is currently in Phase 2, which she said will "study the FEC Railway alignment to determine where the transit way for each of the technologies would be placed within the right-of-way.

Not only is the group looking at track configurations, but is also seeking station locations. Gibbons said the study panel has identified 96 of them along the line. Not all will be selected, she said, and not all stations will be the same. The size and configuration will match the location – downtown, rural, neighborhood, business park or park-and-ride, for example.

Gibbons told the Boca Raton News that seven potential rail sites have been eyed in Boca – on Hidden Valley Boulevard, Jeffery Street, Yamato Road, 20th Street, Glades Road, Palmetto Park Road and Camino Real.

Coincidentally, Delray Beach has yielded only two possible sites – on Atlantic Avenue and Linton Boulevard.

The study group spoke from the middle of a semi-circle of railroad plans. On one panel was a list of the communities and which ones were ready for the arrival of passenger rail on the FEC – indicated by a green square. Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach are among most in Palm Beach County that are not ready.

"How do we go about getting a green square?" asked Boca transportation analyst John Reilly.

Gibbons said the rail line will have a "pedestrian-friendly" aspect to it. "We are not looking to put in high-rises" along the line.