High-speed rail proposal off track

On first blush, a proposal for the state to regulate high-speed rail sounds reasonable, given that this is a new type of transportation service about to launch in Florida. And though full of promise, All Aboard Florida’s new Brightline service also carries new public costs as well as disruptions for communities that will never see a station, though they will see 32 new trains zipping by every day.

On closer examination, however, the proposal by lawmakers from Florida’s Treasure Coast — the three counties north of Palm Beach County — appears less focused on ensuring public safety and taxpayer protections than on placing barriers before a passenger rail service expected to launch its first phase by summer’s end.

And though you can understand her viewpoint, the pitch by Republican Sen. Debbie Mayfield of Vero Beach would be more convincing if her region hadn’t been fighting All Aboard Florida from the start.

First, an update. All Aboard Florida expects to open its Fort Lauderdale station off Broward Boulevard by month’s end, and its West Palm Beach station a few days later. It plans to test its Brightline trains — with names like Bright Pink and Bright Green — in July, with service to Miami in late August. The line is expected to officially open in September. It will take an hour to travel from end to end.

South Florida drivers well know the road detours faced as the company doubled-tracked its corridor, upgraded signal technology and installed medians and “quad” gates that will keep crazy drivers from trying to squeeze between gates to beat a train. The good news is these new “quiet zone” safety features mean that trains — including the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) freight trains that will continue using the tracks, too — will no longer have to sound those new louder-sounding horns at every crossing.

The way things have long stood, FEC has covered the cost of maintaining its railroad and switches, but charges cities and counties to maintain the roadway, traffic control devices and signal maintenance. It figures it wouldn’t need those gates and signals if communities didn’t want their public roads to cross the railroad’s tracks.

But to make inter-city service happen with a speed unseen in the public sector — and recognizing the unexpected costs communities would bear — All Aboard Florida agreed to fund the crossing improvements itself, at no small cost.

Going forward, however, it expects the public to pay for maintenance, as always. And the cost is likely to be higher, since everything’s been dialed up a notch.

This is where Mayfield sees an opening she says she’s using to protect taxpayers. She argues that cities and counties have an agreement with FEC, not All Aboard Florida, a new company using the tracks.

“All Aboard Florida doesn’t own the property. They’ve been granted an easement by FEC to run their train. So shifting the cost of maintenance for (these upgrades) is a nonstarter,” she said.

Michael Reininger, the former CEO of All Aboard Florida who is now executive director of its parent company, Florida East Coast Industries (FECI), says the senator doesn’t understand the details or the law.

“We didn’t arrange to use the tracks,” he said. “We didn’t the rent the tracks. We own them. Both companies share ownership of the corridor and the assets on the corridor.”

Now, a little background. In 2007, FECR was purchased by investors in funds managed by Fortress Investment Group. The company was taken private and the assets were divided into two companies, FECR and FECI.

When we met with Reininger this week, he said the two companies jointly own the rail corridor. But in response to a follow-up question, the company’s legal counsel said the property is owned by FECR and Brightline, the name under which All Aboard Florida, a separate company, does business. The railroad declined to let us see the details of the agreement that divvied up the assets.

Forgive us for making your eyes glaze over, but these details lie at the heart of Mayfield’s argument. As we tried to sort this out Friday, a spokeswoman said FECI is the parent company of All Aboard Florida, which has ownership of the corridor.

Absent more detail, we can’t offer an opinion on Mayfield’s overarching point on ownership. But it does appear two railroad companies own the tracks, and that while the improvements were made to accommodate high speed rail, they also benefit freight rail and our community. Given that they benefit freight rail — improvements traditionally paid by the public — her argument might be splitting hairs. Mayfield wants more, too. Her bill also would: Require high-speed railroad companies to construct and maintain fences along the corridor and install the latest safety technology recommended by the Federal Railroad Administration.

Reininger says Brightline works with communities that want fencing. And given that safety is paramount to the project’s success, we believe him. He also says the company has done everything recommended by the Florida Railroad Administration (FRA,) which has assessed every crossing. He chafes at the idea of adding a new layer of state regulations, and notes it’s required of no other railroad in any other state.

Require railroad inspectors to post their reports on the Florida Department of Transportation’s website. Reininger balks at putting accident reports on FDOT’s website, just as he says you wouldn’t want your driving records publicly posted, either. On this point, we disagree. It’s tough to get information from the FRA. Why not make safety and accident information more transparent?

Change the alignment of roads that approach tracks at a skew, which Mayfield says is a best-practice recommendation of the FRA. But can you imagine having to reconfigure roads that don’t meet tracks at 90 degree angles? On this point, Mayfield sounds obstructionist.

All Aboard Florida officials say the senator is targeting their company, which on its face is unconstitutional. Mayfield says she references Brightline only because it’s the first — and so far, the only — highspeed rail business in Florida, though others will surely follow.

If her bill passes, and it unanimously passed the Senate Transportation Committee two weeks ago, Reininger says it will greatly increase the time and costs of phase 2, which extends the line to a station under construction at Orlando International Airport.

And because pass-along costs would be so high, it also puts at risk regional dreams of one day using the corridor for commuter rail, says Greg Stuart, head of the Metropolitan Planning Organization in Broward.

You’ve got to give it to Mayfield. She’s a smart and savvy senator who represents her region well. But when it comes to representing Florida, her bill falls short.

From what we know about the big picture, All Aboard Florida has gone above and beyond in doing what it said it would do. And since railroads have always been regulated by the feds, we don’t see a compelling case for tough new state regulations.

While Mayfield’s bill has some things to like, we believe it could derail an exciting new chapter in transportation. We encourage its defeat.

SIEMENS/COURTESY All Aboard Florida expects to open its Fort Lauderdale station off Broward Boulevard by month’s end, and its West Palm Beach station a few days later.