Is Florida About to Enter a 'Golden Age' of Rail?

When it comes to surface transportation, Florida is a road-first state. Rail is such a distant second that it's hardly fair to call it second at all. The trip between Orlando and Miami takes almost 6 hours on Amtrak's Silver Meteor and 7.5 hours on its Silver Star, both of which cut across the state and back again to reach Tampa mid-route (below, in red). The car trip, by contrast, is 3 hours on a single interstate.

But lately Florida's road-rail gap has started to close. A passenger rail service called All Aboard Florida, is trying to become America's first private carrier in decades. It recently finished the last deal needed to secure the route between Orlando and Miami. The service is scheduled to begin carrying travelers in 2015 — connecting the two cities in a car-competitive 3 hours.