Between Amtrak’s one million annual Florida customers, the upcoming South Florida Virgin Trains USA rail line and Florida’s history of a sub-par rail safety record, it is clear that more efforts need to be made to keep the Sunshine State’s residents and tourists safe. Recently, such efforts were announced by Florida Senator Debbie Mayfield and Representative Tyler Sirious, who filed the Florida High-Speed Passenger Rail Safety Act in hopes of enhancing the safety of high-speed rail systems in the state. The legislation is composed of two bills that, if enacted, will go into effect on July 1, 2020:
- House Bill 465 lays out the regulation of high-speed railroad companies, including requirements for railroad company reporting, minimum safety standards for high-speed rail systems, maintenance requirements of safety improvements, safety inspection requirements and the construction and maintenance of certain fencing.
- Senate Bill 676, requires the Department of Transportation to regulate railroads in cases where it is not already obligated to do so under federal law. SB 676 also establishes that the department’s railroad inspectors must meet certification requirements and comply with certain federal regulations.
The legislation contains recommendations identified in an October 2018 Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability study, called the Florida Passenger Rail System Study, which investigated safety flaws in Florida’s rail system. Among the flaws included the “gap in federal and state regulations governing higher-speed rail.” Since Virgin Trains USA’s in-progress rail system is set to be the fastest ever built in the southern U.S., with passenger trains reaching speeds of up to 125 miles per hour, it is critical that these safety recommendations are implemented quickly.
