Proposal would exempt CSX from liability on planned commuter rail

Proposal would exempt CSX from liability on planned commuter rail Florida's House Committee on Infrastructure passed a measure March 20 that would effectively exempt CSX from liability for deaths, injuries and damage to rail passengers and others along a planned commuter line route in Central Florida.
   For the commuter line, the state is willing to spend $491 million for 61 miles of track from the freight railroad that spans between DeLand and Poinciana.
   Local news reports said the Florida legislature proposed that the state buy $200 million of insurance.
   'The state's duty to shield CSX would be capped at that amount without prior legislative approval,' according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal on March 21.
   State officials told the News-Journalthat the commuter rail plan 'won't go forward without a liability arrangement acceptable to CSX and the state.'