The corridor links floridas largest three metropolitan areas (miami, tampa and orlando), with two potential alignments

This $500,000 Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration, under the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail program (CFDA 20.326), supports the development of a Service Development Plan (SDP) for a proposed high-speed rail corridor linking Florida's three largest metropolitan areas - Miami, Tampa, and Orlando.

The project will produce a detailed project description for the corridor, including defining the potential alignments, station locations, service levels, and performance requirements. Key tasks include developing a project performance plan, reviewing existing planning materials, refining the statement of work, establishing the project schedule and budget, and other planning activities to advance the SDP. The anticipated corridor would serve major cities as well as rural communities along the route. The final SDP will provide the foundation to progress the proposed high-speed rail project through the subsequent planning and development phases.

There are three alignments for the corridor, which have the potential to be used independently or in various combinations. The coastal alignment would run parallel to the atlantic coastline between miami and orlandos metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and the other would run inland along existing or new track. Both alignments are anticipated to serve miami, tampa, west palm beach, fort lauderdale, the orlando MSA and lakeland between the miami and tampa endpoints. There is also the option to link the tampa and orlando msas via the I-4 right of way instead of using an existing rail corridor. The inland alignment between the orlando and miami msas is anticipated to serve okeechobee and sebring, while the coastal alignment between those two msas anticipated to serve port ST. Lucie and cocoa. Between the tampa and orlando msas, only the rail alignment will serve lakeland. Using service development plan (SDP) SOW framework, the corridor sponsor will develop a project performance plan (task 1.1), existing planning and development materials (task 2.1), statement of work (task 2.2), approved project schedule (task 2.3), approved project budget (task 2.4). The outcome of this project will be the project description for CID step 2, to perform the necessary work to complete an SDP. The proposed corridor would serve the tampa, lakeland, daytona beach, orlando, melbourne, vero beach, port ST lucie, and miami metro areas, as well as rural communities in between.