Four bid to build high-speed train

The cost to the public for the first rail leg, from Orlando to Tampa, ranges up to $2.7-billion.

©Associated Press
February 11, 2003

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TALLAHASSEE -- Four companies entered bids Monday to build the first leg of the state's new bullet train network. Costs to the public ranged from $404-million to $2.7-billion, with up to $2-billion added by investors.

Fluor-Bombardier, Global Rail Consortium, Georgia Monorail Consortium and Et3.com submitted bids to the Florida High Speed Rail Authority. Only Fluor-Bombardier has a commercial system in operation in America: Amtrak's Acela line in the Northeast.

Estimated costs for the first leg, connecting Orlando and Tampa, vary greatly, depending on the route. One route calls for a nonstop link between Orlando International Airport and Walt Disney World; the other, for an intermediate stop at the Orange County Convention Center, a route staunchly opposed by Disney. Both would then go to the Tampa Bay area.

Fluor-Bombardier estimated a public cost from $2.3-billion to $2.7-billion, with private investment ranging from $945-million to $1.3-billion.

Global Rail estimated a $2.1-billion to $2.4-billion state cost, with investors adding $1.7-billion to $2-billion.

Et3 said the entire cost would be $1.2-billion, and riders would speed along in a tube, a giant version of the pneumatic tube system some businesses now use to move documents.

Georgia Monorail's low bid of $404-million lacked further details.

Fluor-Bombardier and Global Rail said they could keep Florida's financial contribution low -- an essential selling point, as Gov. Jeb Bush has vowed to fight any proposal that would saddle the state with too much of the bill.

Representatives from Fluor-Bombardier and Global said the state would be reimbursed for most of the construction cost over 30 years. Based on ridership estimates, Flour-Bombardier said the state would get back $2.1-billion; Global Rail estimated it would generate $1.7-billion.

Representatives from both companies also said they would pay all operation and maintenance costs.

The High Speed Rail Authority will review the bids and present a report March 3.

Ralph Mervine, project director for Global Rail, said its train would travel up to 165 mph. A company release said the trip from Orlando to Tampa would take 43 minutes.

A Fluor-Bombardier release said its "jet train," moved by jet-powered diesel engines, would travel the route at 85 mph. The trip from Tampa to Orlando would take 70 minutes.

Floridians voted high-speed rail into the state Constitution in 2000. The amendment required construction to begin by November. However, authority members have said it is more likely that work will start in mid 2004.

Fluor-Bombardier is a partnership of two well-known companies. Fluor is a California-based engineering and construction company; Bombardier of Montreal, Canada, makes high-speed trains.

Global Rail includes Arcadis, an international engineering and design firm, and Korean Railroad Technical Corp., which will soon open a high-speed line in Korea.

Et3's Web site says it was incorporated in Florida in 1999 to commercialize "evacuated tube transport technology." Its principal office is in Crystal River.

Et3's bid said passengers would ride in a capsule-like car, which the Web site claims would move at speeds up to 4,000 mph by "mimicking friction-free travel conditions of outer space."

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