Private-sector consortia intending to build high-speed lines were created in Florida, Ohio, Texas, California, and Nevada.

The Florida HSRA issued a Request for Proposal to Design, Build, Operate, Maintain and Finance (DBOM&F) the Orlando to Tampa Phase In October 2002.

[9] The HSRA continued moving forward with the project, using funds already authorized by the federal government, and in October 2003 ranked the Fluor Bombardier proposal first.

[6] In early 2004, Governor Jeb Bush endorsed an effort to repeal the 2000 amendment that mandated the construction of the High-Speed Rail System.

With the law still in effect, Florida's HSRA continued to meet, and completed the environmental impact statement for the Tampa-Orlando segment in 2005.

[6] Passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 designated $8 billion to develop a high-speed intercity passenger rail system.

In October 2009, the authority applied for the second round for the entire Tampa - Orlando - Miami corridor, broken into two components: Orlando-Tampa and Orlando-Miami.

[18] On January 28, 2010, the White House announced that Florida would receive $1.25 billion of its request, about half of the cost of the Tampa-Orlando segment.

[1] The state's efforts towards high-speed rail between 2000 and 2005 put Florida ahead of the field in terms of the level of planning already completed, and this proved to be a major factor in winning the funds.

[2] The preservation of the I-4 corridor by the FDOT, and completion of the environmental impact studies in 2005 meant that the project could have proceeded to construction in a very short time frame for a relatively affordable cost.

In March 2010 the Florida Rail Enterprise was still seeking to refine cost estimates based on advanced engineering, finish development of possible Early Works (Install permanent barrier systems along most of I-4 and remove/relocate elements in median) and contract for bid in 2010 and finally initiate a new bid procurement process specific to the Tampa to Orlando phase.

[21] In December 2010 the US Department of Transportation redistributed approximately $1.2 billion in HSR funds that had been rejected by governors elected in Wisconsin and Ohio.

[2] On February 16, 2011, Governor Rick Scott formally announced that he would reject federal funds to construct the project, attempting to kill Florida High-Speed Rail.

On March 4, 2011, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously turned down the request of two state senators to force Scott to accept federal funding for the project.

[24] In early planning stages, all routes but the one along the median of Interstate 4 (which has been and is being widened by several road construction projects) were dropped from consideration; alternates used the CSX tracks to the south of I-4.

Stations would have been provided at downtown Tampa, northern Lakeland, Walt Disney World, and possibly at the Orange County Convention Center (see below), and at Orlando International Airport.

The planned intermodal station here would have also provided access to Orlando's Lynx local bus service, and to International Drive's I-Ride trolley.