A new railroad watchdog group wants Gov. Ron DeSantis to require Virgin Trains USA to pay for extra safety measures if the high-speed passenger rail service eventually zips through the Treasure Coast.
The Florida Alliance for Safe Trains is calling upon DeSantis to ratchet up the Florida Department of Transportation’s scrutiny of the Virgin Trains project and require stronger safety protections.
Installing security fencing the length of the train tracks to protect against trespassers was among the initiatives FAST promoted during a news conference on Feb. 26 at the Vero Beach Heritage Center.
Additional safety measures are also needed to prevent mishaps at hundreds of at-grade railroad crossings throughout the state, several FAST members said.
There are 32 at-grade railroad crossings on Virgin Trains tracks in Indian River County and 21 in St. Lucie County.
Potential safety initiatives for Virgin Trains operations were among the recommendations in an Oct. 31, 2018 report about the Florida Passenger Rail System by the state Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability.
Sen. Debbie Mayfield (R-Vero Beach) said she will ask DeSantis, FDOT and new legislative leaders to consider requiring Virgin Trains to institute the safety initiatives outlined in the OPPAGA report. “We have not been able to get our leadership in the legislature to really take a serious look at this,” Mayfield said during the Feb. 26 news conference.
“I think with the new administration that we have and the new FDOT secretary that has been appointed that were going to start seeing some of the discussion to continue,” Mayfield said. “That’s what we’re asking for is just a discussion; let’s take this seriously.”
The DeSantis Administration and FDOT did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.
Virgin Trains spokeswoman Ali Soule provided the following statement: “Safety is Brightline’s top priority, and it is a fact that travel by train is safer than cars. Over the past year we have made tremendous progress in the Treasure Coast by engaging the community on a variety of issues including safety. As a result, we’ve established positive working relationships, seen demand for our service and are working collaboratively toward identifying a station in the region.”
OPPAGA’S Florida Passenger Rail System report says federal railroad laws allow states to have more stringent regulations to deal with local safety or security hazards.
For example, several states require fencing along railroad right-of-ways to prevent trespassing, but Florida does not, the report says. That was identified as a possible shortcoming in existing state regulations.
Virgin Trains is expected to reach speeds of up to 110 mph between West Palm Beach and Orlando, well below the 125-mph limit at which federal regulations prohibit at-grade railroad crossings.
“However, there is a gap in regulations for some aspects of safety and operations between 81 mph and 125 mph,” the OPPAGA report says. “This gap includes a lack of prescriptive regulations on a federal and state level about the design of railroad crossings for higher-speed operations and the nature of sealed corridor treatments, such as fencing.”
“FDOT is working with diagnostic teams to require a sealed corridor in Florida in an area of higher-speed train operations,” the report says.
In addition, the report says, “FDOT is currently conducting a study to create an optimization model for improving safety at grade crossings in the state.”
Rail owners are responsible for providing basic cross-buck warning signs at railroad crossings, the report says. The government that owns the road is responsible for advanced warning devices, such as gates and flashing lights.
Virgin Trains started passenger train service in 2018 between Miami and West Palm Beach on the Florida East Coast Railway tracks. The company plans to extend service between West Palm Beach and Orlando International Airport by 2022.
Fort Pierce and Stuart are vying for train stations, but not Vero Beach or Sebastian, where opposition remains strong.
A total of 15 people have died in mishaps on the tracks since the passenger train service started in January 2018, according to published reports. Some of the deaths were considered suicides.
Indian River County Commission Bob Solari praised the members of FAST for continuing to fight the train project after two other prominent opponents, Martin County and Citizens Against Rail Expansion in Florida, settled their differences with Virgin Trains in November.
Solari also told about 60 people at the FAST news conference he supports the installation of fencing along the Virgin Trains tracks and other recommendations in the OPPAGA report.
“Because of that report, Tri-Rail, which had some suicides on its tracks, put up miles and miles of fencing to keep people alive,” Solari said about the South Florida commuter line.
“Those 15 deaths happened in places where the train is going less than 80 mph. When those trains start going through our community at 110 mph, more people in our community are going to die because they’re not used to trains going that fast.”
Anne Sinnott, whose family has lived in St. Lucie Village for five generations, said the riverfront community’s 600 residents live in fear of a train derailment because they could be trapped by the railroad.
Residents must use one of seven railroad crossings to get in or out of the village, Sinnott said during the Feb. 26 news conference.
“We would like some assurance and proof that public safety comes first,” Sinnott said. She questioned the status of a variety of safety initiatives for the Virgin Trains project.
“No. 1 for me, I’m concerned, who is actually going to regulate the speeds along that long stretch of track between St. Lucie Village and south Vero Beach,” Sinnott said.
“What has happened to mandated positive train control and what about vehicle presence detection?” Sinnott asked. “What’s happened to those safety measures? Why isn’t there highway-rail grade separation? Where are the sealed corridors, the quad gates, the raised medians, the pedestrian gates and fencing?”
