Private Passenger Rail Service to Connect Orlando to Miami

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

Florida East Coast Industries made public its plans for a $1 billion passenger rail project that is to connect Orlando to South Florida. Called All Aboard Florida, the rail project will link the two metro areas through a 240-mile route combining 200 miles of existing tracks between Miami and Cocoa and the creation of 40 miles of new track to complete the route to Orlando.

The project is designed to serve the approximately 50 million people who travel between South and Central Florida annually, mostly over highly congested highways or crowded airport terminals.  By connecting one of the most visited cities in the United States with South Florida’s business and vacation destinations, All Aboard Florida will facilitate transit for Florida’s growing number of business travelers, as well as families and tourists traveling for pleasure.

With travel time between regions reduced to approximately three hours and frequent services spread throughout the day, the project will also have a role in protecting the environment—the service will take millions of vehicles off Florida’s roadways, resulting in a reduction in auto emissions and providing a far more fuel-efficient alternative to the automobile.

All Aboard Florida will have intermediate stations in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach and, according to Florida East Coast Industries, the system could eventually expand to serve both Tampa and Jacksonville.

Approximately 6,000 direct jobs will be needed to construct the system and over 1,000 more jobs to operate and maintain it; new economic development opportunities will also be created for communities along the route. In an official statement, Florida East Coast Industries declared that the privately owned, operated and maintained passenger rail will be operational in 2014.

Florida East Coast Industries, Inc.—through its subsidiaries and affiliates—is a major owner and developer of real estate and transportation-related businesses within the State of Florida. It is also the owner of Florida’s premier passenger rail corridor.

Infographic Courtesy of Florida East Coast Industries, Inc.