With the Orlando-Tampa high speed rail project flush with cash now having received over $2 billion, FDOT has been denied its $268 million grant application for the start of Amtrak service on the Florida East Coast Railway.  This is the second time the federal grant has been denied, and the third time that proposed Amtrak-FEC service has fallen through.

FDOT will meet soon with federal officials to learn why the grant was not approved.  After the initial attempt to receive the federal money was not successful, FDOT worked to assure that the second application fully met those requirments. A somewhat more limited round of rail infrastructure grants for the states has been proposed by Congress for 2011. FDOT said the state is still keenly interested in the project and would reapply.

Amtrak, FDOT and the Federal Railroad Administration which had all supported the recent effort expressed disappointment. Two daily round-trip Amtrak trains would have run at speeds as high as 90 mph along the 350-mile Jacksonville to Miami route with eight station stops.