By Michael Mayo Sun Sentinel Columnist 6:04 p.m. EDT, July 16, 2014
The folks from All Aboard Florida wanted to set me on the right track. They’re about to unveil drawings of their downtown West Palm Beach station – sound the trumpets! – and they were concerned with all the concerns I’ve been raising recently about the proposed Miami-to-Orlando passenger rail service.
So I met with AAF chief marketing officer Julie Edwards and spokeswoman Ali Soule this week. I would have taken the meeting in Boca Raton or Delray Beach, but I didn’t know if they’d stop there (Ha-ha, express train humor.) So we met in Fort Lauderdale, the other planned South Florida stop.
I explained to them that I had nothing against trains (I grew up riding subways in New York) and want to see sensible mass transit that works in South Florida. But I also explained that I felt a duty to explore the issues being raised by opposition groups, which seem to be sprouting daily.
Another one, calling itself Citizens Against The Train, just launched a television ad that’s hitting Palm Beach County airwaves. The ad menacingly portrays All Aboard Florida’s 32 daily trains as “Big Choo Choo,” with noise ruining family dinners and traffic gridlock at crossings.
Edwards said opposition groups are fueling “misconceptions and distortions.” She said All Aboard Florida wants to be a good neighbor, and has been working extensively with local governments along the route to ensure proper safety and noise reduction. The privately-funded rail service, which is supposed to launch in late 2016 along the eastern FEC tracks currently used by freight trains, will initially run from Miami-to-West Palm Beach before adding its Orlando leg.
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-palm-train-mayocol-b071714-20140716%2c0%2c1463450.column