Nation's Only Privately Funded Express Rail Service to Launch in July
"Brightline plans to start service between Fort Lauderdale and Miami in August or September, Brightline marketing officer Julie Edwards told the Urban Land Institute for Southeast Florida and the Caribbean" on March 10, report Jennifer Sorentrue and Tony Doris for the Palm Beach Post.
Travel between West Palm Beach and Miami will be about an hour, with trains not exceeding 79 miles per hour. Ticket prices haven't been determined yet. See map (pdf) showing service area.
Brightline is "anticipating a grand opening and official launch of the train service in September" after service to Miami has been launched, according to All Aboard Florida, the company behind the new service.
More good news: Brightline's second trainset arrived on Monday from Sacramento, California, where they are manufactured at a Siemens USA factory, notes a press release. Each trainset is composed of four passenger cars and two locomotives.
“It is exciting to reach another important Brightline milestone as BrightPink [named for color of cars] arrives in Florida,” said Brightline CEO David Howard. The first trainset, "BrightBlue", arrived in January.
"In all, five trains are expected to arrive in South Florida before the company launches the first leg of its passenger service this summer," add Sorentrue and Doris.
Eventually, Brightline plans to expand service north to Orlando.
Track work for the second phase of the project, which runs between West Palm Beach and Orlando, has not yet begun. Treasure Coast leaders are challenging that stretch of the project, and have filed a federal lawsuit to block bonds that the company had planned to use to pay for the construction.
And that brings up the bad news for the privately funded railway — new legislation "could threaten its expansion to Orlando and other points across the state," reports Sorentrue on Tuesday.
The bill (SB 386), dubbed the Florida High-Speed Passenger Rail Safety Act, cleared its first hurdle on Tuesday, winning support from the Senate’s Committee on Transportation.
“What this bill does is create a climate for many years of legal and administrative challenges,” Rusty Roberts, vice president of government affairs for All Aboard Florida, said.
According to the legislative analysis (pg. 7 of 23 [pdf]), the trains will travel at high speeds for the second phase of construction to connect to Orlando.
According to (All Aboard Florida), Brightline will travel at speeds between 79 and 125 miles per hour. Between Miami and West Palm, the trains will travel up to 79 mph; between West Palm to Cocoa, up to 110 mph; and from Cocoa to Orlando, up to 125 mph...
The bill lays out a series of requirements that rail operators must meet. A major issue is if it targets one company, which would be unconstitutional. Sen. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, said it doesn't.
“This is not about a particular high-speed passenger train,” Mayfield said. “This is about setting a framework for Florida.”
Hat tip to AASHTO Daily Transportation Update.
Topics
- Where Vacant Properties Are Still Increasing in Number
- Pop Quiz: Can You Match the Metro Logo to its City?
- Ranking the Best U.S. Cities for Parks
- Two Skyscrapers Will Finally Rise Above the Failed Location of the Chicago Spire
- Flixbus Ready for Inter-City Service in the USA
- Chicago Puts Thousands of Vacant Lots on the Market for $1
- Breaking News: $19 Billion MTA Repair Program Proposed
- Atlanta Has Big Transit Plans
- Highway Expansion Could Be Calamitous for Dallas' City Center
- L.A.'s Anti-Density Advocate Still Hopes to Make Planners 'Uncomfortable'
- BART Board of Directors Votes Down Livermore Extension
- Small Business, Co-Op Apartments Mixed Up in New York Bill
- Raising the Meal Tax to Pay for Affordable Housing
- Floating Village Proposed for Protection Against Floods and Quakes
- California Poll: Voters Likely to Repeal 12-Cents Gas Tax Increase in November
- Mobility as a Symphony: Los Angeles Prepares for Transportation of the Future
- A Surprising Source of Carbon Emissions in Oregon
- Atlanta to Use Transportation Sales Tax Money on Park Expansion
- Seattle Revamping its Tree Ordinance
- What Billions in Bonds Could Do for California Water
