Brightline Completes Final Installation Of Rail Track On Orlando Segment

The final section of track on Brightline’s new corridor to Orlando has now been installed, according to a video by The Roaming Railfan.

To mark the occasion, ceremonial golden clips were installed, tying the final section of rail together.

Installation of the last 1600 foot section of tracks is a major milestone in connecting Miami to Orlando by train.

The rail forms a brand new segment running from existing tracks at Cocoa and ending at Orlando International Airport.

Trains are planned to initially run at 125 miles per hour on the newly built segment. However, Brightline previously said it is studying increasing speeds on that segment to 150 miles per hour.

For now, Brightline is only building a single rail track between Cocoa and Orlando, but the design and right-of-way allows for second track if needed.

Substantial completion of the entire Brightline Orlando project is expected in early 2023, with the first paying passengers expected to board later this year.

 

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Melo is sigma and Chad
4 months ago

Cant wait till Brightline starts testing the route from Miami to Orlando, wonder how many drinks I will get for premium from Miami to Orlando.

Choo Choo
4 months ago

Idk if this is still the plan but ik back when they were launching service to Miami they mentioned a full dining car on the trains to Orlando, hopefully they still have that

Make Brightline High Speed Rail Again!
4 months ago

The brightline got so slow since they added Aventura and Boca stops. It became a local commuter train. The ride increase time by about 50%, such a drawback.

Not only that it got more expensive. It’s faster to drive to West Palm Beach than brightline with these stops and totally defeats the purpose. Won’t be using it as much because of these stops at non-urban areas.

Maybe they can add more express train directly from Miami to West Palm? That’s would make the most sense…

Hope It Was Just A Bad Day for Brightline
4 months ago

Brightline is changing and losing its charm… people working all throughout are being very rude rushing people through the station. It seems there is a change in leadership or policy that is cutting out customer experience.

Also the riders have changed and there are people who are very loud and don’t understand train etiquette and screaming profanity and playing loud hip hop music… it’s turning into the LIRR.

Qtip
4 months ago

The real trick is to arrive 40 mins early and drink as much as you can in the first class lounge…..I may know from personal experience.

Melo is sigma and Chad
4 months ago

Trust me I do that, but enjoy the drinks the serve at every station too

Anonymous
4 months ago

What’s so fun about getting drunk when nothing is happening?

anon
4 months ago

that’s when it’s the most fun

Anonymous
4 months ago

We don’t need this kind of negativity around here.

AA
4 months ago

The point isn’t to get drunk before the train. This is funny but it ruins the experience for everyone, some people can’t keep their whits together.

Anonymous
4 months ago

It’s not just about leisure travel and tourism. Stations like the one in Aventura, Boca & WPB also allow workers to live outside of expensive Downtown Miami while keeping their jobs there, and have an easy daily commute to jobs without the hassle, stress and cost of driving, not to mention wear on your vehicle.

Anonymous
4 months ago

Aventura and Boca aren’t much less expensive. Neither is WPB for that matter. Fort Lauderdale? Meh… The idea is as you said in the second sentence, so long as the New River bridge doesn’t constantly break.

Ishkabibble E.
4 months ago

Don’t forget, Cocoa. There are no good paying jobs here. I lived in Miami for three years and Fort Lauderdale for two years. I had jobs that paid well. I’m not the only one many of us have been forced to take high school dropout type jobs. It’s too expensive to commute to Orlando by automobile with the tolls. It is also a time issue during rush hour. What normally would be an hour turns into three hours. Obviously I’d be riding the train both ways five days a week. I read somewhere probably about a year ago that it would cost $100 one-way. I believe that is from Orlando to Miami. Adding a Cocoa stop as well as other stops south of Brevard county would be great for the economy.
The most money you can make in Cocoa is $36K. I am sick of hearing about cost of living being better here. It is not. even as a home owner, it is very tough living on that type of wage. I do not spend money on restaurants or anything else that is considered non-essential just food utilities gas property tax homeowners insurance, vehicle maintenance, pet food, veterinary, personal items, such as hygiene, cleaning, and laundry. Our fuel prices may be cheaper, but the things I mentioned above are not. Housing used to be affordable here. But everybody has come here in flocks from New York. brevard county ranked number three since the pandemic began of places people have moved to. It may have changed since those statistics were published. People think Palm Bay is cheap to live. No because the house and prices and the rents have skyrocketed. The only thing about Palmbay is that there is a ton of retail and restaurant. So if you want a minimum wage job or five, it’s a great place for you. Many years ago well paid people lived in this area because they worked at the Kennedy space Center. Obama eliminated all those jobs and put the money into education. Titusville Cocoa Mims have a lot of poverty.

Anonymous
4 months ago

Cocoa, Titusville, Palm Bay are dirt cheap relatively speaking to most of the U.S. As you have pointed out, so are the local salaries.

Dyke Pense
4 months ago

Deep red MAGA country.

Anonymous
4 months ago

Boca and Aventura aren’t expensive…..lmao

mike
4 months ago

its about 3000 a month for a 1 bed apartment in boca. Not cheap lol

Anonymous
4 months ago

Still no tri rail downtown…..

Anonymous
4 months ago

Someone had mentioned in a previous post recently that Tri Rail is 6 months from Miami Central. Training and testing are happening now. They had put a URL in it too from the news source.

Parkinghater
4 months ago

Tri rail is physically ready to roll in. They’re just training their engineers on the new territories.

kenny P.
4 months ago

Not true. Their trains are not PTC ready to run on FEC tracks

ParkingHater
4 months ago

We’re both wrong, they are PTC ready, just needs to be tested. https://www.tri-rail.com/pressreleases

Anonymous
4 months ago

Is it just me or does the start date keep getting pushed out with each update. Now passengers later this year?

Alias
4 months ago

Pandemic delays but 2023 was announced awhile ago nonetheless.

Anonymous
4 months ago

What exact pandemic delays? Construction generally accelerated during the pandemic.

Anonymous
4 months ago

Brightline was announced in 2012 with Orlando service by 2014.
It has been changed multiple times over the last 10 years.
Perhaps service will be established this year.

Anonymous
4 months ago

Exciting stuff!!

Marco
4 months ago

Brightline has beautiful trains and a great marketing team. Problem is the ticket way too much expensive and the speed way too slow. Florida needs a real fast train. 200 mph minimum. We are in 2023, not in 1980. And please, no more additional stations. BTW what about hyperloop?

Anon
4 months ago

It could be faster if it didn’t make so many stops in non-primary local towns.

Melo is sigma and Chad
4 months ago

They should build a Boca/ Aventura tier station in Cocoa Beach and Jupiter. Out of Orlando folks go to Cocoa Beach and South Florida locals get to change it up and go to a beach that looked like Sunny Isles from the 1980’s.

Anonymous
4 months ago

I respect your opinion, but I disagree. I think the idea is to go as quickly as possible from Miami to Orlando, replacing the trip by plane. The more stops you have along the way, the longer the train journey will take.

Anon
4 months ago

There’s these things called express trains

Ishkabibble E.
4 months ago

Yes, express train is priority, especially for tourism and the entire economy of Florida itself. Chicago has express trains and local trains. Therefore it is possible to have two different types of service.

Ishkabibble E.
4 months ago

Apparently you are not familiar with passenger rail service or have knowledge of the railroad industry. Usually there are two types of service express and local. Nobody is voting out the express. I definitely feel the express will be great for tourists coming to Orlando or Miami so that they can go and spend the day or a couple of days in each area . You can’t take a airplane from Cocoa to Miami.
LOL

What Happened to Brightline?
4 months ago

It’s slowing down so much. The aventura station is surrounded by little low density apartments and doesn’t make sense… I don’t see what Miami-dade is envisioning with requiring this stop be constructed. It’s ruining the overall service.

What Happened to Baby Jane?
4 months ago

^^You have not been to Aventura…..little low density apts….NOT

Anon
4 months ago

I went by and just saw college campus style three floor apartments and a giant mall parking lot. Not an urban core where brightline should go.

Anonymous
4 months ago

Try glancing across Biscayne Blvd behind the mall, Ray Charles

Bad Idea Melo
4 months ago

Jupiter does NOT want or need a station and it would be terrible for South Florida. If anything Palm Beach Gardens is the closest we can go without over densifying the entire state.

Anonymous
4 months ago

Say that to people who want Metrorail extended into Homestead rather than Miami Beach and other existing dense areas ripe for infill and redevelopment. Also, a Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter are proposed stations for Coastal Link.

Juan
4 months ago

“Over densifying”. You say that if the whole state isn’t some giant single-family suburb. Outside of the downtowns of major cities what density even is there??

Juan Pablo Montoya De La Cruz Diaz Balart
4 months ago

Juan, you need to really visit Miami Beach one of these days.

If Anything
4 months ago

I’d like to see a Delray Station since it’s more dense beach town between WPB and Boca.

Anonymous too
4 months ago

I think all of this are many years away: BL did purchase land at the Cocoa curve (where they slow down anyway), probably for a future station. It’s a good location for access to many things, shuttle buses to the cruise port, Kennedy Space Center…etc. It could also be used to reverse a Jacksonville train so it can go up the Orlando line to OIA and Tampa. I think they are studying another station or two south of that and north of WPB. The locals have submitted proposals. I suspect not all trains will stop at them just like they don’t at Boca and Adventura. If enough people want to ride between OIA and MIA to fill a train up, then they might make a couple non-stop or limited stop (OIA,WPB,FLL,MIA)

Ishkabibble E.
4 months ago

Yes, it has been mentioned that the bend would be the best stop in Brevard county.

Anonymous
4 months ago

I believe they considered a Cocoa Beach station to appease the NIMBYs that were holding it up.

Ishkabibble E.
4 months ago

There is no existing rail in Cocoa Beach. They would have to build across the causeway either by bridge or underground. Florida does not have the money and the federal will not kick in to support it. I agree that it would be great to have a train run along A-1 a however due to the non-existence of track, many homes, businesses would have to be evacuated and destroyed. The existing line currently carries freight Amtrak and the speed train.

Trevor Jones
4 months ago

I have been waiting for Brightline’s Orlando division to be completed for 4 years! And now it’s finally complete! Can’t wait to see the trains rolling through Vero Beach!

Anonymous
4 months ago

…and that’s what they’re gonna do, roll right through Vero Beach without stopping

Would Love to go To Vero
4 months ago

Vero Beach would be perfect!

Anonymous
4 months ago

and people in Vero would love to have a train to an international airport

Caroline Connor
4 months ago

I feel like Sheldon, from the Big Bang series, regarding trains! Oh boy, been waiting for the opening!

Anonymous
4 months ago

Orlando is a destination that needs a Brightline Stop (not Aventura).

Stfu
4 months ago

Yes aventura because it has biggest mall in aventura and it’s a popular neighborhood in miami dade

Obvi
4 months ago

People drive to malls, not train.

Anonymous
4 months ago

Where have you been the last ten years since it was launched as AAF?

Miami SW 4Th Avenue City Desthtrap
4 months ago

We need jnstsrrucfude on our roads. I took a detailed through little Havana on SW 4h Avenue heading north, it looked like a two way street… next the you know it just changed jnto the one way entrance to I0t – can’t believe dije rosds were set like this and remain this way to days….

FBRIGHTLINE
4 months ago

THIS LINE SERVES NO PURPOSE, its faster to drive, no disney station or universal which is where anyone would be going so you would still have to rent a car up there.

Anonymous
4 months ago

LOL, even though it was what was originally envisioned…

Fi95
4 months ago

Why do you care? If you want to drive and sit in traffic on your way to Orlando that’s your choice. I’ll be sitting with a cold beer on the brightline getting done work done.

Anonymous
4 months ago

getting work done, while drinking beer on a train. Glad I’m not your employer or customer.

Bob Evan’s yum
4 months ago

Not faster, Brightline should take 3 hours from Miami to Orlando, it takes that if not more to drive from Orlando to just palm beach

Anonymous
4 months ago

bullcrap…you must drive like Mr Magoo

LETSGOBRIGHTLINE
4 months ago

It takes 2 hours just getting out of Miami. I drive for a living as a crane op. Made the Cocoa to Miami trip many times, no matter how fast I try to go, It’d always take 3 hours +. Now add another 45 mins to Orlando especially if you’re going theres traffic. Ain’t no way you can time it to avoid traffic in all cities. Make it even worse, you’re going somewhere for the holidays, an event etc. which is mostly the only time people make big trips, you’re getting where faster? Full of shiiii. Also if you were in tune, they planning a stop near Disney and a station along international drive which will put you close to everything. Plus they have Sunrail which you can transfer to to get around locally. Nice try. The train is here to say. Cars are going extinct.

Cranes are going extinct
4 months ago

That you Beyel?

Juan
4 months ago

Lol get out of here grandpa

Obvi
4 months ago

It should go from Miami to Disney. That it what war pitched. Not a commuter line.