I would if I were more frequently visiting the cities it services. But it is also another good bit of info to know, thanks!
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Rumor Higher Speed Rail from MCO to Disney World
- Thread starter UCF
- Start date
Here's the latest update from the Orlando Business Journal:
"Universal Destinations and Experiences will help fund a study for the Sunshine Corridor.
The theme park company — part of Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA) — will provide $2 million through its Shingle Creek Transit and Utility Community Development District for the development and environment study for the shared corridor for commuter rail SunRail and intercity rail service Brightline.
The funding was announced at the Feb. 27 meeting of SunRail's Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission by John McReynolds, senior vice president of external affairs at Universal Destinations and Experiences.
The study, which will cost $6 million, has already gotten $2 million from the Florida Department of Transportation, as well as $500,000 apiece from the city of Orlando and Seminole County.
Universal saw it as important to help move the study forward and match funds provided by FDOT and the local governments — including incoming commitments for Orange and Osceola counties — McReynolds said.
"We have done what we've needed to do as an organization to ensure our commitment. We stand still today — as Universal and the CDD — and still have land reserved for the station and some of the tracks, and we stand as committed today as we have ever been."
Universal already has committed to providing land along Destination Parkway for the Orange County Convention Center station and using the district to help fund the project.
Osceola and Orange counties plan to provide funding, as well, with the Orange County Commission's vote targeted for March 25, according to Orange County Mayor and SunRail board member Jerry Demings.
Osceola County will put its $500,000 in funding on the agenda soon, though an exact date was not announced yet.
It is expected to take roughly two years and will provide more detailed cost estimate for the project, as well as guidance for how to phase construction and how a transfer station would work between the corridor and existing SunRail stations, among other findings.
John Tyler, FDOT District Five secretary, said during the meeting an action item to advance the study could go before the SunRail board as early as its March meeting, which is currently scheduled for March 27. FDOT — who will coordinate the project's development and environment study — will visit with the Federal Transit Administration in Atlanta in March.
The corridor would have stops at Orlando International Airport, near the Orange County Convention Center and near South International Drive. It would also allow Brightline to expand to Tampa.
Universal's new Epic Universe theme park, set to open May 22, will be near the convention center station. Catchlight Crossings, an affordable apartment community being built on land Universal donated, is also close to the proposed station.
Once Epic Universe opens, there is expected to be more than 100,000 workers in the International Drive corridor.
Early estimates have said costs could total more than $4 billion for the Sunshine Corridor and would expand SunRail's current annual ridership of 1.2 million."
"Universal Destinations and Experiences will help fund a study for the Sunshine Corridor.
The theme park company — part of Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA) — will provide $2 million through its Shingle Creek Transit and Utility Community Development District for the development and environment study for the shared corridor for commuter rail SunRail and intercity rail service Brightline.
The funding was announced at the Feb. 27 meeting of SunRail's Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission by John McReynolds, senior vice president of external affairs at Universal Destinations and Experiences.
The study, which will cost $6 million, has already gotten $2 million from the Florida Department of Transportation, as well as $500,000 apiece from the city of Orlando and Seminole County.
Universal saw it as important to help move the study forward and match funds provided by FDOT and the local governments — including incoming commitments for Orange and Osceola counties — McReynolds said.
"We have done what we've needed to do as an organization to ensure our commitment. We stand still today — as Universal and the CDD — and still have land reserved for the station and some of the tracks, and we stand as committed today as we have ever been."
Universal already has committed to providing land along Destination Parkway for the Orange County Convention Center station and using the district to help fund the project.
Osceola and Orange counties plan to provide funding, as well, with the Orange County Commission's vote targeted for March 25, according to Orange County Mayor and SunRail board member Jerry Demings.
Osceola County will put its $500,000 in funding on the agenda soon, though an exact date was not announced yet.
It is expected to take roughly two years and will provide more detailed cost estimate for the project, as well as guidance for how to phase construction and how a transfer station would work between the corridor and existing SunRail stations, among other findings.
John Tyler, FDOT District Five secretary, said during the meeting an action item to advance the study could go before the SunRail board as early as its March meeting, which is currently scheduled for March 27. FDOT — who will coordinate the project's development and environment study — will visit with the Federal Transit Administration in Atlanta in March.
The corridor would have stops at Orlando International Airport, near the Orange County Convention Center and near South International Drive. It would also allow Brightline to expand to Tampa.
Universal's new Epic Universe theme park, set to open May 22, will be near the convention center station. Catchlight Crossings, an affordable apartment community being built on land Universal donated, is also close to the proposed station.
Once Epic Universe opens, there is expected to be more than 100,000 workers in the International Drive corridor.
Early estimates have said costs could total more than $4 billion for the Sunshine Corridor and would expand SunRail's current annual ridership of 1.2 million."