Passenger train operator Brightline has scouted train-station sites in Tampa for a possible rail link to Orlando.
Gov. Rick Scott said in July that the state will consider bids to operate a passenger rail service between Tampa and Orlando in state-owned Interstate 4 corridor.
Scott made that announcement in response to an unsolicited bid by Brightline to start running a passenger rail service between Tampa and Orlando.
Brightline this year launched passenger rail service in South Florida between downtown stations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. The rail company is preparing to extend its passenger service in South Florida to the intermodal terminal at Orlando International Airport.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that several possible train-station sites that Brightline has scouted in Tampa are within walking distance of the proposed site of a new baseball park in the city’s Ybor City area for the Tampa Bay Rays, a Major League Baseball team now based in nearby St. Petersburg.
Among other sites, Brightline scouted Tampa Union Station, a city-owned train station that Amtrak serves, and Tampa Park Apartments, a privately owned rental housing complex. [Tampa Bay Times] – Mike Seemuth