The following report documents an initial planning and feasibility study for intercity passenger rail service in the Southwest Florida Corridor from Tampa to Naples. This corridor is proposed as a Phase 3 Corridor in the Florida Intercity Rail Service Vision Plan1 to be implemented in the ten-year period between 2006 and 2015 and was analyzed as an extension of initial Tampa-Orlando-Miami Corridor Service.

This report addresses the public benefits and investment needs of intercity passenger rail transportation. AASHTO has published an investment needs report for highways and transit, and intends to publish a report on freight rail investment needs. Cost estimates for intercity passenger rail investment presented in this report were developed independently from those contained in the freight rail report. In combination, these reports provide a complete picture of the benefits of the various surface transportation modes to the U.S. and the value to be realized by both the traveling public and shippers through strategic investments.

This page contains information on the Florida rail system plan. This consists of a summary of railroad strategies and goals, and information on the 1998 Florida Rail System Plan (executive summary and complete document) and the Florida Intercity Rail Passenger Service, Options for the 21st century are available.