That's probably as close as I'll ever get to commuter rail in Central Florida. It's my son's LEGO train set.

The defeat of the CSX incentive-laden bill has been hailed as a savings to taxpayers. Two quick questions though

1. When in the next few decades do you think building a commuter rail line will be cheaper?
2. How do you plan on building a rail line without some sort of involvement from CSX?

Here are a few quick answers:

1. Now or Never? If there is one certainty other than death and taxes, it's that major public-infrastructure projects don't get cheaper over time. So if you're complaining about the cost now, just wait a few years....especially when we don't have any Federal funds. Throw in a connection to Tampa and watch the cost get even higher. However land is a bit cheaper today than it was two years ago. Perhaps this recession is good for something :-)
2. Good Luck. They own the major rail lines in the area, so that leaves you with three options: a. build your own, sure....any estimate on what that right-of-way would be? b. deal with the devil, CSX that is....and I bet after this last go around they won't be lowering their price...or c. Use the center of I-4, after all that's what we widened it for right?

Once again regionalism has screwed over the area. Lakeland doesn't want more freight trains, Orlando is sick of them and wants commuter rail, Winter Haven doesn't seem to care as long as their is tax revenue to be gained. South Florida doesn't like funding an Orlando rail initiative with limited immunity, even though they benefit from a similar deal. The Four Corners is growing with residents that work and play in the Osceola/Orange area and we just killed their rail deal, that should go over well. The list can go on and on.

I hope that something good will come out of all this. Hopefully the entire region will begin to think about a good rail system, but it's going to be hard for any Orlando politician to deal with Lakeland for a bit. They'll get over it.....but when?

One day the planning will start and then the finger-pointing will resume all over. What's that...you want to build a high-speed rail connection between Orlando and Tampa but bypass downtown Lakeland and Winter Haven? No way!