(The following editorial appeared on the Orlando Sentinel website on May 10, 2009.)
ORLANDO, Fla. — Two possibilities remain for supporters of a commuter train for Central Florida: Accept its derailment in the state Senate and move along, albeit slowly, on Metro Orlando’s congested roads. Or work to get it back on track — an option even some of its longtime backers call crazy.
We’re convinced it would be crazy not to try.
Crazy because nearly two months still remain on an agreement for the state to buy the 61-mile rail line from CSX Corp. (Why quit now after a two-year fight for it in the Legislature?)
Crazy because the consequences of letting go of SunRail are colossally bad for the region and the state. (It’s not just about us, senators.)
And crazy because the possibility of running a commuter-rail line from DeLand through Orlando to Poinciana — even after it hit the wall in Tallahassee — isn’t as minuscule as many, including us, had been led to believe.
A bona-fide chance. It’s certainly not coming from state legislators. Seven from South Florida were so bent on killing SunRail that they voted it down even though the bill creating it included millions for South Florida’s beleaguered Tri-Rail service. (If those senators somehow thought they could get the money for Tri-Rail by asking the Senate president and Gov. Crist to raid
$30 million from a fund designated for commuter rail, as they subsequently did, they were greatly mistaken. And now perhaps 150 Tri-Rail workers may lose their jobs because senators didn’t embrace SunRail and the funding it would have brought Tri-Rail.)
But SunRail still might run if leaders in Central Florida and Washington, who remain eager to fund it, can drive it past obstructionists in Tallahassee.
U. S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Thursday that the Obama administration supports SunRail, so much so that it still included
$40 million for the project in its new budget. That helps, but so would a new liability agreement in case of accidents.
State senators rejected the agreement submitted to them, saying it dumped too much risk on the state, even though it mirrored the one the Legislature approved for Tri-Rail. But Amtrak, which has liability agreements in place for the commuter trains it operates in California, Virginia, Connecticut and Maryland, potentially could apply them to SunRail — and operate the train.
It’s also possible that a transportation authority or commission representing the Central Florida system might assume the liability.
Or watch things unravel. A failure to pursue those and other options that transportation analysts say could salvage SunRail would set in motion a terrible chain of events.
The loss of 13,000 rail-construction jobs.
The gutting of urban-development projects that could help curb sprawl. At just one of SunRail’s 17 planned stations, Florida Hospital’s looking to spend more than $100 million on housing, retail, diagnostic and office facilities.
And related transportation projects might be abandoned, including plans for a light-rail line connecting International Drive to the airport, high-speed rail tying Orlando to Miami, and even dreams of light or commuter rail in Tampa and Jacksonville.
More than $75 million and countless hours working to develop SunRail already have been spent. What a waste if nothing comes of it.
That and the thought of losing the once-in-a-generation, transformative transportation project has one of its leading supporters confiding how he just bought a new copy of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, a bible for military strategists.
To him, and hopefully to many of SunRail’s other key supporters, defeat isn’t an option.