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Talk continues in Tallahassee about revisiting the state’s controversial, $650 million dollar deal with CSX to build commuter rail in Central Florida.
Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, said prospects for a special session depend on reaching an agreement on the issues that killed deal in the Senate this year—the plan for the state to assume all legal liability for accidents on rail lines it would buy from CSX, even though the company would continue to use them also.
“If accord could be reached on those, then you could come up here and do a half-day special session and be gone in one day,” said Cannon, the House transportation chief, who sponsored the House legislation for the deal this spring. Otherwise, he said, “If you don’t have a very simple and agreed-on plan, then it probably ought to wait – definitely until after the election, probably until regular session of next year.”
Under the deal, the state would pay CSX $650 million to buy 61 miles of tracks for a central Florida commuter rail project and to help CSX expand its freight operations into a massive hub in Polk County. But CSX insisted the state take over all liability for accidents involving passenger trains on the lines, even if CSX causes an accident.
Some senators had already opposed the project because of its price and the adverse impact on Lakeland, through which CSX would reroute freight traffic. But the liability issue was the killer in this spring’s legislative session.
Since then, proponents, including Orlando-area officials, have been pushing lawmakers and Gov. Charlie Crist for a special session. Cannon, the designated House speaker for 2011, said he’s talking to the governor and others involved about finding a consensus.
Speaking to reporters today, he stressed the federal money at stake—some $300 million in transportation dollars “that we’re currently missing,” he said. The liability issue “ought to get worked out,” and that “cooler heads and saner minds” will settle the issue either in a special session, or next year’s regular legislative session.
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