Brightline to Tampa?

[ConrailDetr​oit]

https://www.wtsp.com/article/travel/bri ... 29f37452bd

In June 2024, Florida transportation leaders said there's a "critical" need for a high-speed passenger train connecting Tampa to Orlando as congestion on Interstate 4 and its nearby "malfunction junction" interchange continues to build.

[Saturnalia]

The biggest problem with Brightline to Tampa is the route out of the Airport and past the theme park zone. Disney wants to support the line going straight to its zone, and it’s zone only. Otherwise, it is actively blocking any effort to have the line go elsewhere, such as near Universal, SeaWorld, etc. They don’t even wanna go with any plan to pass through Disney and the other parks together.

So yeah - Disney being Disney. It’s a shame since Walt would probably love the idea of trains to his park, being a as big a believer in mass transit and railroading that he was.

[Chip]

The biggest problem with Brightline to Tampa is the route out of the Airport and past the theme park zone. Disney wants to support the line going straight to its zone, and it’s zone only. Otherwise, it is actively blocking any effort to have the line go elsewhere, such as near Universal, SeaWorld, etc. They don’t even wanna go with any plan to pass through Disney and the other parks together.

So yeah - Disney being Disney. It’s a shame since Walt would probably love the idea of trains to his park, being a as big a believer in mass transit and railroading that he was.

I believe that’s the real reason Ron DeSantis wants to take back control of the land Disney sits on. The whole posturing thing he was doing was just to garner support from his base.

[ConrailDetr​oit]

https://www.wusf.org/transportation/202 ... -expansion

“It's privately funded. I mean, we are not going to be on the hook as the state with taxpayers for doing trains,” DeSantis said.

Old news, but for reference, the State of Florida will not be offering any subsidies for Brightline to expand to Tampa.

Amtrak already offers a train between Miami and Tampa and Florida is a automobile centered state, similar to Michigan.

The high density area cities of Miami, Orlando, and Tampa already have all of the useful mass transit that they can utilize.