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.

During Florida's land boom of the 1920s Americans flocked to the Sunshine State as never before. Countless new homes arose, as did commercial buildings and municipal projects. Famous cities of today, including Boca Raton, Hollywood, Coral Gables, and Venice, sprang to life during those heady times. Eager for boom traffic, the Seaboard Air Line Railway connected both coasts of the state and advanced rails down to West Palm Beach, but President S. Davies Warfield wanted more! In 1926, two major extensions were rushed to completion - one to Naples, the other to the "Magic City" of Miami. To open the additions, Warfield invited 700 guests from 18 states and pampered them aboard five identical passenger train sections of the Orange Blossom Special. Afterwards, he sent each invitee a souvenir: a leather slipcase containing two privately printed booklets, one describing the Seaboard and the territory it served, the other recounting the fabled journey just completed. Rarely seen by the public and today treasured by collectors, the booklets are reproduced herein along with - for the first time - many historic images. Together they record a remarkable celebration of American railroad history.

This Rail Feasibility Analysis Summary Report documents the technical analysis conducted by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to evaluate the feasibility of enhanced or new intercity passenger rail service between Tampa Bay and Northeast Florida. Based on recommendations resulting from the I-75 Relief Task Force, the North I-75 Master Plan Study (August 2017) was initiated to evaluate I-75 and parallel corridors as a system and determine their ability to accommodate the future congestion. To supplement that effort, this rail feasibility analysis was initiated to consider the need for enhanced passenger rail and to evaluate the feasibility of this alternative mode to address future regional travel demand within the study area. Consistent with the North I-75 Master Plan Study, this evaluation considers interregional transportation needs through the year 2040 planning horizon.

TRB Special Report 320: Interregional Travel: A New Perspective for Policy Making examines the demand for and supply of interregional transportation in the United States. Major additions to transportation infrastructure, including high-speed rail, are being considered for some of the country’s most heavily traveled 100- to 500-mile corridors. The availability and use of the automobile, airplane, and train for interregional travel are reviewed along with the rejuvenated intercity bus. U.S. interregional corridors and transportation options are contrasted with those in Japan and Europe, where substantial investments have been made in passenger rail. Public investments in new, long-lived transportation infrastructure can be risky because of uncertainty about future demand and the development of new technologies and competing transportation services. Decisionmakers in interregional corridors face the added challenge of having to coordinate investments across multiple jurisdictions. The report recommends actions to reduce this uncertainty and create stronger institutional means for developing the country’s interregional corridors. TR News 303 features an article on Interregional Travel: A New Perspective for Policy Making. A video about the research is now available: At the 2016 TRB Annual Meeting, January 10-14, 2016, a session entitled Interregional Travel: Policymaking from a New Perspective was webcast live. These videos provide an overview of various components of the project. Introduction: Part 1: Overview of Project Scope Part 2: Data and Information Needs Part 3: Intercity Bus Operations Question and Answer Session Presenters: Tom Deen Nancy McGuckin Joe Schweiterman Moderated by: Martin Wachs