High speed rail will link Orlando to Tampa

At long last, high speed rail is coming to Central Florida, linking Orlando to Tampa before the end of the decade. President Obama has recently approved funding for SunRail to link Orlando International Airport with Lakeland and Tampa, in a project that is slated for completion by late 2014 or early 2015. the Proposed Orlando-Tampa train is expected to travel at speeds in excess of 150 miles per hour.

According to a recent article in the Orlando Sentinel, an additional 61 miles of the SunRail route will link DeLand in Volusia County through downtown Orlando to Poinciana in Osceola County. The first 30 miles of the route should be ready in late 2012, with the entire setup coming on line in 2014.

Currently, the most direct route between Orlando and Tampa has been Interstate-4, which connects Tampa on the Gulf Coast with Daytona Beach on the Atlantic Coast. The pros and cons of having high speed rail in Central Florida have been debated for years, but finally the long-imagined project is ready to get underway.