DeLAND, Fla. — Government officials in Volusia County, Fla., are asking to be included in discussions about a plan for Brightline and commuter operator SunRail to share a corridor to the Disney World area, expressing concerns about possible increases in SunRail operating costs that could result.
Volusia County is one of five partners in SunRail’s governing board, the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission, along with the city of Orlando and Osceola, Orange, and Seminole counties. SunRail operation is slated to transition from the state to those partners in 2024.
The Orlando Business Journal, in a paywalled article, says the Volusia County Council approved sending a letter to the rail commission expressing concerns about not being included in discussions of a plan that would see SunRail expand from weekday to daily operation, as well as the potential expansion which would connect SunRail to Orlando International Airport, the area around the Orange County Convention Center, and Disney World. The prospect of an agreement for the shared route was reported last month following negotiations spearheaded by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer [see “Orlando plan would extend SunRail to Disney World …,” Trains News Wire, April 6, 2022].
The letter also suggests the proposed new corridor may require an amendment to the existing SunRail operating agreement, which only covers the existing 61-mile corridor and does not address daily service.
The SunRail extension to Deland is well under way on the planning side. While Volusia County is part of the overall SunRail service district, a strange vote took place in Deland where they narrowly voted against providing any funding for a new station or for parking. So it appears FDOT will purchase the land west of the station and build the parking area and station upgrades themselves. It’s an odd situation where the state and county want to push it, but the residents don’t seem to care.
As for this airport-Brightline deal that is under discussion, Volusia County (knowing there is some negative thinking on SunRail) want to see what these concepts being tossed around in the press are going to cost the governments over time.
Extending service to new areas, increasing frequency all create new costs the service district has to fund. Talking about it in public without providing the funding sources (taxpayers) information on what it will cost will get into hot water.
As for the Deland-Daytona question, once in the galaxy far far away, there *was* tracks between Deland and Daytona but they were taken out many years ago. A CSX spur down West Michigan Street in Deland is all that is left of that and no one sees it returning.
As for the SunRail going farther north to say Palatka, Green Cove and eventually Jacksonville, I doubt it. While Amtrak uses that route, its for Tampa/Miami trains. JTA has been doing studies about a heavy rail offering that runs from Yulee in the north to St Augustine in the south. Brightline has the service LLC’s in place between Cocoa and Jacksonville which would include Daytona, but they have already come out and said they are going prioritize Tampa because as they said Jacksonville’s local transit is immature and not able to adequately service a future offering today. But the City of Daytona has already started the process to purchase several parcels of land adjoining the FEC ROW with the idea of hosting a Brightline/Amtrak station.
So as it looks now, SunRail will have Deland as its north terminus for an extended period of time. Brightline won’t even look at a service north of Cocoa until Tampa is farther along. If (and its a big if) Brightline might look at an Orlando-Daytona offering, but I doubt it. It would be almost as quick to just take a bus up I-4.
When Jacksonville gets their collective act together on urban transit and several other well ignored civic issues, then I am sure they will get the look over, but that could be 15, perhaps 20 years from now. They are working on it, but it will take years to get back what they have squandered in the last 30.
Volusia county has been on the short stick since they joined Sun Rail. At the north end of the only route DeBarry is just north of Sanford Sun Rail station ( not Amtrak). Volusia was vaguely promised the line would be started north to Deland as soon as extension was fully underway for the extension south to Poinciana. Well construction to Deland is or will be just starting. Have lost track of that work.
I can imagine Volusia is worried with all the airport and Disney talk that the Deland extension is in jeopardy. No use and just more cost. FL DOT has moved any funds if available for widening parts of I-4 that parallels the route to Deland north of downtown Orlando.
Deland is the county seat. Daytona Beach is approximately another12- 14 miles from Deland Amtrak station with no rail between the 2 cities. The Amtrak station and track is too far west of downtown Deland and I would suggest that another station location in Deland be found that can allow extension to Daytona Beach preferability by the race track with a station there and a downtown station maybe along the FEC RR?.