All,
This Friday, (Feb. 25) Florida, the rest of the U.S. and private companies who were willing to bid on both partial and full amounts of securing High Speed Rail, will know if the project is alive or dead on the tracks.
U.S. House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica has proposed the following new HSR format:
[...]
• The initial operating segment would consist of 21 miles.
• The sub-grantees would consist of Orange, Osceola and the City of Orlando.
• The inter-local agreement would be crafted with these three initial participants, with the potential for additional future partners.
• The federal government would provide financial support for construction of the first segment, up to an agreed upon funding amount.
• The inter-local parties would solicit private sector proposals to finance, design, construct, operate, and maintain the project.• All parties would agree to proceed only if the project is financially viable and they had unanimous consent regarding the terms of ownership, development and operation of the project.
http://transportation.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1126
However,
Its been reported by Orlando Sentinel that this project still needs Florida Gov. Rick Scott approval.
[...]
But even if the cities were able to come together, federal and city officials said they still would need Scott's approval because the state owns the train's right-of-way, and any project of this magnitude would require assistance from the Florida DOT.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-high-speed-rail-talks-20110221,0,2658301.story
Keep Flying On The Ground!
Ca/Nv Maglev News
