High-speed rail plans in the works for Duval, St. Johns

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — New documents just filed indicate a move to bring high-speed rail to Jacksonville.  

It's a long drive down Florida's east coast. Some say there needs to be a faster way and there may soon be.  

Action News obtained new documents filed two weeks ago with the St. Johns County Clerk. It's an agreement between East Coast Railway and All Aboard Florida for an option to purchase land in Duval and St. Johns counties and all the way down to Cocoa, Florida. All Aboard has been working to build a high-speed rail between Miami and Orlando. 

According to the documents, that rail line could extend now from Cocoa to Jacksonville.

"It could be positive. I don't know anything about it," said Jacksonville City Councilman Bill Gulliford. 

Gulliford wasn't the only city leader who didn't know about the plans. The spokesman for Mayor Alvin Brown didn't know anything either. Neither did anyone in St. Johns County, where the documents were filed. While leaders we spoke with agreed it sounds like a good idea, there's one question.

"The big question is who pays for it," said Gulliford. All Aboard wouldn't give any details about the plan, only issuing this statement saying, "The documents filed clarify AAF's ownership rights to provide passenger rail service in the FEC corridor." 

That means for now, people in Northeast Florida are left to wait and wonder if high-speed rail will ever leave the station in Northeast Florida.  

Florida East Coast Railway did not return our calls for comment.

WJAX