Amtrak, the country's largest passenger rail service, has been boasting of a nationwide expansion plan for a few months, and part of that includes the areas north of West Palm Beach and south of Jacksonville. To provide that route, it needs to lease about 270 miles of tracks run by the St. Augustine-based railroad.

A contract, however, is in limbo as both sides work out who will pay for the necessary structural changes to get the tracks ready for Amtrak's trains. Florida East Coast is predominantly a freight railroad; it hasn't had passenger traffic since the 1960s. An FEC attorney also said substantial work needs to be done on the terms of the operating agreement.

"It is a very significant change," said Heidi Eddins, FEC's executive vice president, who is negotiating the deal with Amtrak. "It needs to be done carefully."

Amtrak needs to lease the tracks from FEC, just like it does with dozens of other railroads in the country. Contracts typically revolve around who pays for maintenance and safety upgrades, and the length of the service.

But with this deal, FEC officials said they want to be careful so that allowing Amtrak to use the tracks does not put a strain on its core business, freight transportation. The added trains could potentially slow other trains that use the route.

Amtrak officials are anxious to get a deal signed so they can move forward with their ambitious expansion plans. Announced in late February, the plans call for expanding or improving service in 21 states and, in the process, generating 4 million new passengers.

"The major benefit is that it opens up major vacation destinations, like St. Augustine and Daytona Beach," Amtrak spokesman John Wolf said.

Other Jacksonville-related changes planned by Amtrak include new stops for the Sunset Limited line that goes from Jacksonville to Los Angeles and extending the New York route into Boston and other parts of New England.

Amtrak, which serves more than 500 communities in 45 states, is under pressure to raise profits by 2002 or face the loss of some federal subsidies.

Eddins is "guardedly optimistic" a deal will be worked out, but neither she nor Wolf would give a date for when a contract might be signed.

"We both are interested in making this happen," FEC spokeswoman Jane Covington said. "It's just a matter of coming to an agreement."

Freight railroads across the country, including Jacksonville-based CSX Transportation, have agreements with passenger services to lease out tracks. Most of the arrangements at CSX are not a large source of revenue and the railroad makes little profit off the deals, a company spokesman said.

Eddins would not comment on how much FEC is going to charge Amtrak, only saying the railroad will "be paid reasonable compensation based on the service it provides."

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Publication date: 2000-05-05