The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is to issue a request for proposals (RFP) seeking private parties to fund a new high-speed rail line between Orlando and Tampa.

FDOT and the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) have already received an unsolicited proposal to lease property owned by the state and CFX to develop a high-speed rail connection along Interstate 4.

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As a result of the proposal, FDOT, on behalf of the state and CFX, will begin an open procurement process for other private investors interested in building the line.

Florida Governor Rick Scott said: “When I became Governor, the Obama administration was trying to use federal taxpayer dollars to pay for a rail connection that had an extremely high risk of overspending taxpayer dollars with no guarantee of economic growth.

“Through private investment, we ensure that this major project has zero financial risk to Florida taxpayers.”

“This is exactly what we’re seeing in California, a state which took this bad deal from Obama, and in Connecticut where taxpayers had to shell out hundreds of millions of dollars for their rail line.

“Instead of placing taxpayers on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars, our goal is for the private sector to invest in this project. Through private investment, we ensure that this major project has zero financial risk to Florida taxpayers.”

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Brightline, the high-speed rail linking Miami and West Palm Beach in Florida, said in a statement it has submitted the unsolicited proposal to expand its services from Orlando to Tampa.

The proposal involved the leasing of a state-owned right of way to build a privately funded passenger rail line connecting Orlando and Tampa.