Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater is right to push for a special December legislative session to resolve funding for Tri-Rail and create a commuter rail line in Orlando.

House Speaker Larry Cretul seems willing to have Florida pay a quarter billion dollars to reimburse the federal government for its contributions to Tri-Rail.

Why else would he still be on the fence about having a special session to get permanent state funding for the commuter service that links Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade?

His is a costly political game.

If Florida is to stand a chance of getting federal funding for a high-speed rail project that would link Miami to Orlando and Tampa it first must show U.S. transportation authorities that it backs local commuter rail service.

That was the message Mr. Atwater took from a recent meeting with federal officials. They stressed the need for Florida to show a commitment to rail as the state seeks $2.5 billion in stimulus money that will be awarded early next year.

The feds have told state authorities that their application for funding to build a high speed rail line has a real chance of gaining approval. That's only if the Legislature first agrees to come up with a recurring source of revenue for Tri-Rail and untangle a complex deal to get the Sunrail commuter line running along 61 miles in Central Florida.

The Sunrail deal was rightly rejected in the state Senate because a sweetheart deal to use CXS Transportation freight tracks would have relieved the railroad of all liability for accidents and left Florida taxpayers holding the bills instead.

The Sunrail commuter train needs to be delinked from the too-favorable terms the state Department of Transportation negotiated with CSX. That would be Mr. Atwater's and Mr. Cretul's jobs in a special session.

Then they must identify and get legislators' approval for a funding mechanism for both commuter lines. A transit fee for rental cars makes sense as a reliable funding source.

This is especially crucial in the case of Tri-Rail, whose second track project was funded with federal dollars. If the state fails to find a revenue source it will have to pay back $256 million or more.

The double tracking allowed Tri-Rail to run trains every 20 minutes during rush hours, greatly increasing its efficiency and, ultimately, ridership. Boardings soared to 14,000 daily riders today from 7,500 in 2007 when the track project was completed.

Mr. Atwater has seen the value of supporting rail as a key part of Florida's transportation future. Mr. Cretul should match his enthusiasm and leadership to bring more commuter rail and high-speed rail to Florida now.

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