Rail Project Moving Toward Red at High Speed

As promised, $66.6 million in federal funds rolled into Florida for the planned high-speed rail line linking Tampa and Orlando.

The first installment of Washington's $1.25 billion grant will be used for preliminary engineering on the 84-mile project that's scheduled to be running by 2015.

While state and federal officials are publicly bullish, their timeline and the projected $3.5 billion price tag may be overly optimistic, critics say.

Noting the chronic, multimillion-dollar deficits run by South Florida's TriRail, skeptics say the more costly high-speed line, with fewer passengers, is heading into an even bigger budgetary void.

Brad Ward -- a Republican challenging Rep. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, in the Aug. 24 primary -- figures that a 50-minute ride on the high-speed railroad will shave about 40 minutes off the Tampa-Orlando trip via I-4.

But Ward calculates the true cost of the train trip -- starting with a hypothetical $40 roundtrip ticket based on Amtrak's current $26 Orlando-Tampa roundtrip charge -- will cost a typical rider as much as $140 after ground transportation costs are factored in at both ends. That compares to $30 by car.

Will enough people fill a train that costs a $110-per-rider premium?

Despite the hoopla, expect this week's $66.6 million down payment to be just the start of a long and open-ended tab stuck on the taxpayers.