All Aboard Florida study shows economic impact

In an article by Jensen Werley, a reporter for the Jacksonville Business Journal, Historic City News learned that St Johns County will not be one of the eight Florida counties to share in about $2 billion in economic impact from the construction of the “All Aboard Florida” passenger rail system.

Because of the close ties between railroad icon Henry M. Flagler and St Augustine that served as its headquarters for decades and hopes of a partnership with Amtrak, it appeared that St. Augustine might return as a historically accurate and profitable Florida East Coast Railway passenger rail station — this week’s economic impact study dashed those dreams, at least for the time being.

“We are focused on getting the Orlando-to-Miami segment operational before analyzing the addition of future stations or expansions to other parts of the state,” Julie Edwards, chief marketing officer for All Aboard Florida, said in an email. “Since this is a privately funded project, we can say that if the demand and ridership exists, we will look toward expanding.”

Unlike Amtrak and other inter-city rail in the United States the new service is privately owned and operated by Florida East Coast Railway.

Additional details from the study, performed by consultants at the Washington Economics Group, can be found at this link.