The High Speed Rail Authority says it is still determined to bring a bullet train to the state.
By JEAN HELLER
Published December 18, 2003
ORLANDO - Members of the state's High Speed Rail Authority say they are not discouraged by Gov. Jeb Bush's stinging criticism of their bullet train project and suggested Wednesday that he hold his fire until negotiations with the train contractor are done.
They underscored their determination to continue trying to bring a high-speed rail to the state by voting to adopt two major upgrades along the Tampa-Orlando route, which were negotiated with the contractor, Fluor-Bombardier, last week.
The upgrades would have two sets of tracks instead of one, and electric engines instead of diesel.
The authority also voted to ask the governor and the Legislature to approve a $75-million budget for work on the project next year, which would be nearly a 20-fold increase from the $4-million budget the authority worked with this year.
The decisions came as the board worked over a draft of its annual report to the governor and Legislature, a report that contains an itemized rebuttal to Bush's criticisms. The report will be finalized early next month.
Bush's lengthy laundry list of problems with the bullet train idea was the opening salvo in the governor's attempt to repeal the constitutional amendment voters passed in 2000 that required the train. Bush has long been a critic of high-speed rail.
But several members of the authority said Wednesday they aren't sure Bush can be successful.
"I met with (Speaker of the House) Johnnie Byrd, and he feels the people have spoken and this train is the will of the people," said authority member Lee Chira. "Byrd is aware of the board's needs and is willing to accommodate them."
C.C. "Doc" Dockery, the Lakeland businessman who put more than $2-million of his own money into the effort to pass the bullet train amendment three years ago, said he didn't think the Legislature had any intention of putting the matter before the voters again.
"We have the votes (to defeat reconsideration), or at least we had them last Thursday," Dockery said before the meeting.
While 90 percent of the authority's budget proposal would be spent on the Tampa-Orlando leg, 10 percent would go toward initial planning for Phase II, Orlando-Miami.
Bush's issues with the train include what he called the unreliability of projected costs.
The authority acknowledges the early estimate of $1.6-billion for Phase I of the project was too low. Upgrades and unresolved issues, such as what will have to be paid to the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority for right of way and lost tolls when the train begins running down the median of the Central Florida GreeneWay, will escalate the cost. But the contractor will be responsible for any cost overruns, the report says.
Bush is worried because the state is being asked to allocate $75-million a year for 36 years with no guarantee it will get a penny of that money back. The authority says the financing plan caps the state's contributions at $75-million a year, and projections show the state will more than recoup its payments at the end of the 36 years.
One significant unknown is federal financing. The project heavily depends on it, yet there are no federal dollars available at this time.
Board member Norman Mansour said no federal money is likely to be coming in the next year, either.
"Based on my knowledge of what's going on, there isn't much going on," Mansour said. "It's stuck in the mud. For 2004, we're just going to be treading water."
But officials from Fluor-Bombardier - which built the Acela high-speed rail system serving the Washington, D.C.-New York City-Boston corridor, the only profitable passenger line run by Amtrak - said they would be working hard to find federal dollars.
"We have a lot of influence in Washington," said Sandra Buckler, manager for strategic initiatives. "We intend to use all of it."
