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TAMPA - The state's high-speed rail contractor said Friday it is negotiating with British entrepreneur Richard Branson's business empire to operate the Tampa-Orlando leg of the new rail system when - and if - it goes into business in 2009.
Lecia Stewart, vice president for high-speed rail for Fluor-Bombardier, said in a telephone interview from the company's offices in Quebec that the company is in exploratory talks with Virgin Trains, the rail arm of an empire that includes Virgin Atlantic Airways.
Virgin Atlantic flies about a million people to Florida now, many of them into Orlando, but also arranges tours by another subsidiary, Virgin Holidays, that brings many of the Orlando tourists into the Tampa Bay area for the attractions and beaches.
Stewart was asked when talks between Bombardier and Virgin might conclude.
"Stay tuned," she said.
Officials of Virgin Trains roamed Florida this week to talk with contractors and officials of the Florida High Speed Rail Authority, which plans a $2.6-billion bullet-train system between Orlando and Tampa.
If the train system gets built - it has powerful political opposition - the primary contractor would be Fluor-Bombardier, a Canadian partnership, with no experience running a railroad. That point was raised by the partnership's competitor during the bid process, but was dismissed by the authority as a future issue.
"We contemplated during the bid process that we would be working to take on a partner at just about this point in planning for the train," Stewart said. "We are partnered with them in the (United Kingdom) on high-speed rail, and they have quite a presence in Florida already."
Enter Virgin Trains in Florida.
"They came to Orlando yesterday and sat down and wanted to know more about the project so I gave them that information," said Nazih Haddad, director of the Florida High Speed Rail Authority. "They expressed they were very much interested in joining the Fluor-Bombardier team."
"They know their business," Haddad added.
Virgin Trains operates rail lines that run from Scotland to southern England, including two that use high-speed trains. The Virgin trains annually carry 35-million riders, including 15-million on the high-speed lines, said spokesman Will Whitehorn, a director of Virgin Group, the parent company of Branson's empire. Virgin Trains last year posted $1.3-billion in revenue.
This would not be Virgin's first interest in Florida high-speed trains. Branson met with Florida officials in 1998 during the state's last attempt to create a high-speed rail system, dubbed Florida Overland eXpress, or FOX. Virgin never pursued the deal, though, and in early 1999 newly elected Gov. Jeb Bush killed the FOX project.
This latest high-speed project was written into the Florida Constitution by voters in 2000. But it still faces the governor's opposition. Bush is pushing a bill in the Legislature to seek repeal of the high-speed rail constitutional amendment with a statewide referendum next fall. Bush also has proposed no funding for the project, while the authority sought $75-million.
- Information from the Orlando Sentinel was used in this report.