Rumor Higher Speed Rail from MCO to Disney World

maxairmike

Well-Known Member
That part of I4 gets ripped up next and widened, though. There a rail ROW in the median. Maybe not big enough for a station, though. On the plans, it shows it further South by Celebration. Things must have changed though.
I know the ROW is supposedly there, but when it actually gets built I expect the express lanes and inside exits for them to cut into most of that ROW. I'd have to go back through and see what (if any) revisions have been made to the plans/renderings, but that's what I recall from my first impression when I looked over them a few years ago.
 

bpiper

Well-Known Member
Oops. I meant the Beachline. 528.
They can't do it. With the latest rebuild of 528, there is no center ROW for it anymore west of the airport. Besides, Brightline tracks are going through the airport to the station there and continuing to the south side of the airport property where they are building a large maintenance facility.
 

Bob Harlem

Well-Known Member
Anyone who wants to follow along with construction of this, check out the Roaming Railfan youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbr6nOYIcuf9HbWQ4XX2bAg/videos

They just posted a video of the setup for the Cocoa Tunnel under 528. I'm sure when they get to this part they'll be keeping track of it also.

Yes there is a good bit of construction well under way, not just the new cocoa part, but upgrading old track,crossings, and bridges all the way up from South Florida to Cocoa.
 

bpiper

Well-Known Member
Look at the maps posted and see the 417 to World Center Drive route. That dumps right into the springs. I4 does not come into play til it leaves the springs
I don't see it.. The ROW on World Center drive is very tight in places. While I guess they could move World Center Drive out from the center via land takings to make a ROW, the problem is the at grade road crossings. International drive, 535, the entrance to the Marriott world center.... That is the beauty of 417 and I4, no at grade crossings....

The only feasible place for the station is west of I-4, south of 192 and east of world drive. There is already a wide spot in the medium.

1606175271796.png
 

bpiper

Well-Known Member
My understanding is they cannot without paying to privatize the garages.
RCID owns the garages and floated bonds to pay for them. Disney took advantage of cheap financing. Either Disney pays them a usage fee to cover the bond payments or RCID is being reimbursed via property taxes on Disney owned property. The people manning the garages are RCID employees. I don't see why RCID could not make them a pay garage. Just like any other municipality does to pay for them and their upkeep.
 

halltd

Well-Known Member
I don't see it.. The ROW on World Center drive is very tight in places. While I guess they could move World Center Drive out from the center via land takings to make a ROW, the problem is the at grade road crossings. International drive, 535, the entrance to the Marriott world center.... That is the beauty of 417 and I4, no at grade crossings....

The only feasible place for the station is west of I-4, south of 192 and east of world drive. There is already a wide spot in the medium.

View attachment 515158
That’s what the plan was in the beyond the ultimate plans for I4. You can find them on the I4 website. Obviously things have changed from what’s published online. They’re dated 2018 which is odd, though.
 

maxairmike

Well-Known Member
I don't see it.. The ROW on World Center drive is very tight in places. While I guess they could move World Center Drive out from the center via land takings to make a ROW, the problem is the at grade road crossings. International drive, 535, the entrance to the Marriott world center.... That is the beauty of 417 and I4, no at grade crossings....

The only feasible place for the station is west of I-4, south of 192 and east of world drive. There is already a wide spot in the medium.

View attachment 515158

Yep, that spot is the original location for the proposed station, and still what makes the most sense if they're following the 417 routing. I did find it interesting in reviewing updated renderings of Beyond the Ultimate that the new Daryl Carter interchange (bridge before 535) no longer includes the express lanes, however in one view they appear to show up after 535's exit from WB I-4. Following 536 from 417 doesn't make sense as there's not only a lack of median ROW, but the 536 ramp system to try and work around to get over to 536, and at that point it only makes sense as a spur station, as you would need to loop the track back around the WDW/Bonnet Creek property to get back to the I-4 median.
 

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
RCID owns the garages and floated bonds to pay for them. Disney took advantage of cheap financing. Either Disney pays them a usage fee to cover the bond payments or RCID is being reimbursed via property taxes on Disney owned property. The people manning the garages are RCID employees. I don't see why RCID could not make them a pay garage. Just like any other municipality does to pay for them and their upkeep.
RCID could depending on the bond terms but Disney couldn't
 

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
I don't see it.. The ROW on World Center drive is very tight in places. While I guess they could move World Center Drive out from the center via land takings to make a ROW, the problem is the at grade road crossings. International drive, 535, the entrance to the Marriott world center.... That is the beauty of 417 and I4, no at grade crossings....

The only feasible place for the station is west of I-4, south of 192 and east of world drive. There is already a wide spot in the medium.

View attachment 515158
But you have the problem of them saying Disney Springs....
 

halltd

Well-Known Member
They can't do it. With the latest rebuild of 528, there is no center ROW for it anymore west of the airport. Besides, Brightline tracks are going through the airport to the station there and continuing to the south side of the airport property where they are building a large maintenance facility.
I found the 528 proposals. They all show the current 528 condition and the rail is on the north side...in magenta...flying over the interchange and landing in the middle of I4. That still makes the most sense to me.

 

maxairmike

Well-Known Member
Or you put a switch on the 417 at world center. Dis traffic goes to the springs and all else goes down 417 to I4

You would still need to navigate 536 and the ramps to get to a spur station at Springs, which doesn't seem very likely because the configuration is going to get even messier with the express lanes and their exits.

I found the 528 proposals. They all show the current 528 condition and the rail is on the north side...in magenta...flying over the interchange and landing in the middle of I4. That still makes the most sense to me.


Also, the general lanes will be elevated above the express lanes from west of Daryl Carter Pkwy for stretches, and there's no indicator for rail ROW in that stretch in the design drawings I'm looking at. So you would have to elevate any rail corridor to a 3rd level at least through the entirety of the stretch from Central Florida Pkwy to past 536. That seems excessively expensive, though would certainly be an imposing visual structure.

EDIT: Link to documents for this segment. https://i4beyond.com/project-designs/segment-1b/#design-documents
 
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TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
I can't see it being a spur. The passengers on one leg would be facing forwards, while on the other leg, would be facing backwards... Passengers will NOT like that. My significant other gets nauseous if she has to ride facing backwards....
Brightline trains don’t turn as is, they operate push/pull with a locomotive on each end.
 

maxairmike

Well-Known Member
And regarding the 417 routing...the proposed widening plans and renderings for 417 between the 536/I-Drive interchange and 528 appear to take away the median completely. Not sure where that leaves the routing plans for Brightline, but it appears to take out the 417 median routing...

 

joelkfla

Well-Known Member
I can't see it being a spur. The passengers on one leg would be facing forwards, while on the other leg, would be facing backwards... Passengers will NOT like that. My significant other gets nauseous if she has to ride facing backwards....
Like the majority of modern railcars, Brightline's Siemens railcars have fixed seating, with half of the seats facing each direction. Trains are not turned. There's a locomotive at each end.
Look at the maps posted and see the 417 to World Center Drive route. That dumps right into the springs. I4 does not come into play til it leaves the springs
There would be environmental reports, ROW acquisition, and they would probably be required to build an elevated trackbed to avoid grade crossings. Coming up I-4 from 417 as a spur would be much less efficient operationally, but eliminate the need for additional construction, other than an additional connecting track at the 417/I-4 junction. The station could be a stub end, with the engine crew simply moving to the other end of the train and going back to 417 the way they came.
That’s what the plan was in the beyond the ultimate plans for I4. You can find them on the I4 website. Obviously things have changed from what’s published online. They’re dated 2018 which is odd, though.
But in June 2019, Brightline presented the OUC-417-I4 route as the preferred alternative. 536 was not included.
1606182267700.png

Source: https://www.clickorlando.com/travel...-ground-on-high-speed-rail-system-in-orlando/
 

joelkfla

Well-Known Member
And regarding the 417 routing...the proposed widening plans and renderings for 417 between the 536/I-Drive interchange and 528 appear to take away the median completely. Not sure where that leaves the routing plans for Brightline, but it appears to take out the 417 median routing...

In stretches where enough room can't be found to lay tracks in the median, they would probably have to elevate them. It adds expense, but if it's the only alternative ... c'est la vie.
 

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