Federal Railroad Administration approves Florida’s high speed rail project

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) – Governor Charlie Crist on Thursday celebrated the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) decision to approve Florida’s high speed rail.

The FRA, for the first time in the country’s history, issued a final Record of Decision for a major high speed rail project, the Orlando-Tampa segment of Florida’s high speed rail program. This allows the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to begin the design, land acquisition and construction of the Orlando-Tampa project.

“Florida has worked hard to achieve this milestone,” Governor Crist said. “We now have the green light to move forward quickly to build America’s first true high speed rail system. This effort is already creating new jobs for Floridians and it will create many more in the next two years.”

“We thank Governor Crist for leading the charge, along with our congressional and legislative leadership, for the tremendous support they have shown to move this project forward,” said FDOT Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos. “We also thank our federal partners for working with us to fund the next phase of project work.”

Crews have started laying out markers for aerial surveys done by both plane and helicopter, while ground crews are surveying bridges and other sight-obstructed areas that cannot be seen from the sky. This phase is being done by Florida-based professional firms including Aerial Cartographics of America Inc., Geodata Consultants Inc. and Mehta Engineering, but the process will culminate in a competition in which private companies will bid for the right to build, operate and maintain the system.

“Last year we had to lay off some experienced people because of the economic downturn. The high speed rail project has allowed us to bring them back and hire more people,” said Jim Humphrey, president of Aerial Cartographics of America. “We are now working up to seven days a week and may have to do more hiring to meet the project goals.”

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