Brightline’s Miami To Orlando Rail Line Now Over 75% Complete

Brightline’s Miami To Orlando rail project just passed another construction milestone, the company told investors last week.

According to the investor brief, construction crews have now completed 75% of the work on the route.

The $2.8B project remains on schedule for substantial completion in late 2022, and is also within budget.

During the month of March there were approximately 1,149 construction workers actively engaged in the buildout of the new route.

The first paying customers are expected to be able to board trains between Miami and Orlando in early 2023.

Brightline also told investors this week that ridership on its existing inter-city rail line is growing extremely fast.

In March 2022 alone, ticket revenue grew 41% compared to February 2022, with ridership up 38%. Revenue and ridership are also 23% and 17% higher than March 2019.

 

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Anonymous
11 months ago

I wish it was a 180 mph to 230 mph high speed train all the way from Miami to Orlando.

Adrian Diaz
11 months ago

One day! Walk before we can run? The fact that we have this is already a big win. Improving the line incrementally would be the next step.

Not Anonymous
11 months ago

Well, 2.8 billion is a little much for a walk

Anonymous
11 months ago

So 150 mph is not fast enough for you?

Evan
11 months ago

It doesn’t even go 150 down here. If I’m correct it doesn’t even hit 100

ALE
11 months ago

I believe the max in Urban areas is 79mph, still I take it from Miami to Fort every time I go, so relaxing.

Anonymous
11 months ago

Its unrealistic, but imagine if it had the grade separation to hit 100 or 150 between Miami and West Palm Beach.

Anonymous
11 months ago

It goes faster than 100 mph once its out of the cities limits. Besides, why do these trains need go faster at the speed they do now between Miami/Dade and Palm Beach counties when we hear about numbskulls getting killed by them because they couldn’t wait a few minutes?

Not Anonymous
11 months ago

on the bright side, if they go faster, than it would be a faster and less painful death.

Anonymous
11 months ago

That makes no sense if people are already dying then it doesn’t matter if the train goes faster and anyone who drives in Miami can drive to wpb faster than the train outside of rush hour. The train really needs to hit closer to 100 mph. honestly in theory that should mean that the gates are closed for a shorter period of time and people will be less likely to try and beat the train.

Cade
11 months ago

they should add quad gates, underpasses and crossing with a median in the road

ex-Londoner in 33132.
11 months ago

Get so irked when my Brightline ride is delayed by scraping dead bodies off the track. Car drivers should be more alert.

CHRIS
11 months ago

They’ll be just as dead at 150mph as they are at 79mph

Anonymous
11 months ago

This train is going to average less than 80mph between Miami and
Orlando Airport. It will have a lower average speed if extended to Disney. The time from downtown Miami to Disney will probably be close to 4 hours.

Future Florida Billionaire
10 months ago

Where did you get your information? Because it’s BS. From Cocoa to Orlando there is little to no crossings and little to no excuse to go faster. From what I’ve heard that’s where the trip will be the fastest. Stop spreading FUD. Florida needs less people like you to fully achieve it’s potential. Soon I’ll be a billionaire and push you all out. Soon. Soon.

Anonymous
10 months ago

Cocoa to Orlando is not a very long stretch and won’t really travel up to 125 mph along the Beachline Expressway, but south of Cocoa is a different story.

Not Anonymous
11 months ago

no, not if it is to compete with cars and planes, and especially no judging by the cost of a ticket

Anonymous
11 months ago

I’ll remember that next time I read that somebody went to sleep behind the wheel of a car while driving down the highway and caused a horrendous accident.

Not Anonymous
11 months ago

Please do. If you are in a train, you can sleep without crashing into someone, and more people on the train means less people on the road.
(and also, what does that have to do with my previous comment?)

Anonymous
11 months ago

Not to mention you don’t need to go through airport security longer than the actual flight. This is why Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor is the only profitable route since 9/11.

Cade
11 months ago

wrong the auto train is also profitable

BDub
11 months ago

That would take dedicated, grade separated track. FEC uses the tracks for freight trains, too.

Conductor Bill
11 months ago

over 180 grade crossings between Miami and Cocoa, and Florida’s talented drivers makes this a recipe for Darwin awards!

Anonymous
11 months ago

It’s actually 174 according to my overview of the Miami metropolitan area of the grade crossings on the FEC between Miami and West Palm Beach via Google Earth.

Capitalist
11 months ago

Congratulations and thank you Brightline! They actually build and deliver on their promise on their own dime. Unlike the county that just continues to do studies.

A R Perez
11 months ago

You are right! With what has been paid out for the “studies” and “consultants”, which has been 10s of millions of dollars, they could have rebuilt the FEC tracks between Miami International Airport and Florida City and have had money left over for restoring the CSX track to Homestead! Wasted taxpayers money!

American Worker
10 months ago

it might be worth it to subsidize a lot more Brightline-administered activity in the future

wanderer34
11 months ago

120-150 is a decent speed. It takes about 3 hr 2 min from Miami to Orlando driving. It will take under 2 hours if it’s 120 and around 90 min if it goes 150. Patience, you need patience!

Anonymous
11 months ago

“On schedule within budget” this is what happens when the government is not involved……

Azymous
11 months ago

No voting interests and family to siphon the budget

m s
11 months ago

not on budget for Revenue though, that’s why this is all going bankrupt soon

m f r
11 months ago

F*ck you

Tranquilo
11 months ago

That escalated quickly

Melo is sigma and chad
11 months ago

their revenue will skyrocket early next week

Future Florida Billionaire
10 months ago

If anybody is going bankrupt it’s all the annoying glass half empty people like you who will be pushed and priced out of Florida with the influx of new money and people. I’ll enjoy seeing less of you and more progress hopefully.

Melo is sigma and chad
11 months ago

yeah the cali one is slow and far over budget, Also their stations aren’t even connecting urban cores.

Anonymous
11 months ago

This project started in 2012 with a scheduled completion of 2014.
This project is now 75% complete, and system testing is not planned until 2023.
Testing could take over 1 year.

Fern
11 months ago

They are testing it. This website had articles about Brightline running test trains from WPB to Cocoa. They just have to test the Cocoa to Orlando section when that’s complete

Fern
11 months ago

And really when there are no NINBYs to sue and force delays when or demand environmental impact surveys and a dozen studies

Anonymous
11 months ago

Still not too late to start construction on Genting’s Resort Casino.

Anomosity
11 months ago

Absolutely!

ParkingHater
11 months ago

Amazing. Brightline continues to be an amazing example of a proper private public good project.

Underrated is how good this is for freight too, double tracking 🙌🏻. If only we could see some carrots to bring in manufacturing/distribution in the industrial district north east of the airport. Would love to see that whole area revitalized, even the east west spur that runs along 23rd. Not to mention so much of the route is now faster! Up to 110!

Melo is sigma and Chad
11 months ago

Hope to see the Tampa line plans soon

Michael
11 months ago

They plan to extend it from Orlando to Tampa. I hope to see another line that goes south of that, bypassing Orlando and shortening the trip.

Anonymous
11 months ago

MiamiCentral to FLL, and then along I-595/Alligator Alley into Naples, and up the west coast to Fort Myers, Sarasota, and St. Pete to Tampa… and then another line from Orlando to Daytona Beach, up the northeast coast to St. Augustine and then Jacksonville. A man can dream…

Michael
10 months ago

In addition, I would like to see non-stop trains from Miami to Orlando and Miami to Tampa.

SP
11 months ago

the problem is once you get to the sprawling city of Orlando, you’ll probably need a car : (

Anonymous
11 months ago

Not for long: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/transportation/os-ne-brightline-sunrail-demings-action-call-20220405-x2curfy4gjdstagrzvd5fbp7mu-story.html

Orlando is getting the Federal $$ from Biden’s infrastructure bill to expand SunRail to connect to Brightline and further expansions in Orlando

Anonymous
11 months ago

Too bad that money will do absolutely nothing except line the pockets of Whorelando’s local politicians, who make ours look competent, but at least it could bring some momentum to fund it otherwise.

Paul
11 months ago

There are free shuttles from the airport to the parks and resorts. This will be a very popular option for foreign travelers. Europeans and Asian tourists are used to train travel and will probably default to Brightline.

Melo is sigma and chad
11 months ago

the brightline connects with sunrail and another station in central florida is being planned

Not Anonymous
11 months ago

Uber and Lyft

Anon
11 months ago

Does anyone know where the station(s) in Orlando will be ?

Anon
11 months ago

Awesome. thanks !

Anonymous
11 months ago

Also there in talks to make a stop in the Disney are (most likely Disney springs) and Universal studios wants a stop near its park but that would add over 1bil to the price.

Amancio
11 months ago

it should at least go 250mph

Jorge Monsalve.
11 months ago

Cual seria el costo de los tickets round trip a Orlando desde Miami. Qiuero ser de los primeros en viajar Como ya lo hice a Fort Lauderdale y a West Palm Beach. Gracias.

Anonymous
11 months ago

Van a cobrar $95 desde Miami hasta Orlando.

Slushy3
11 months ago

We have the technology for high speed rail…the question is why is it not being applied in the USA

Smart Developer
11 months ago

They need to double the amount of gates. Too many styrofoam brain people out there that try to go around the gate arms.

photobug
11 months ago

Did the last routing decisions ever get made?

Anonymous
11 months ago

As someone who loves the Brightline service and has ridden multiple times, perhaps more context is needed for the March vs. February ridership increase. Marlins Spring Training in Jupiter, Ultra Music Festival in Miami and the Palm Beach International Boat Show take place in March, resulting in full trains for those events. A private boat-show related event rented out one entire train (all 4 passenger cars).

It’s a little disingenuous to think ridership will continue to increase based on March without understanding that Brightline does an excellent job catering to event-related travel and summer months lack the same volume of events as the winter & spring months.May’s Sunfest in downtown WPB being the last big event for quite a while.

RobWP
11 months ago

With the momentum that these trains have does it really matter if it is going 60 miles per hour or 100 , or 180 mph when it comes to hitting a car or a person?

Molly foster. Timmthy. Qiunthe
11 months ago

Hotels in. Miami -$105.

Tommybluez
11 months ago

Anyone know if there’s any future plans to add stops anywhere between WPB and MCO? Cocoa? PSL?

Kadir
10 months ago

This project in my opinion is a failure, but most say it’s better than nothing.

The train should have been something like a bullet train, extremely fast that would truly connect the areas.

Anonymous
10 months ago

Do you not realize they use existing FEC tracks for most of its route length? What the hell did you expect?

Anonymous
11 months ago

Who in their right mind would ride something like this from MCO to the three stops in South Florida? Basically you can fly from MCO to South Florida nonstop cheaper and faster. Damn thing doesn’t even stop in Cocoa from MCO for Port Canaveral cruise ship passengers. How much lobbying was done to skip a stop there?

Anonymous
11 months ago

According to a recent article on WESH, 400 million trips are made between Central and South Florida annually, and about a million do so by car. Air travel is too inconvenient for most people at such distances that rail becomes viable, see the Acela, that service barely travels at 150 mph and the new sets will only top out at 160 mph, yet it has a majority of the air/train market between NYC and D.C. along with the Northeast Regional as well. I do agree with placing an infill station at Cocoa since that is an absolute no-brainer to catch more riders.

Anonymous
11 months ago

I believe there’s a typo in your otherwise well thought-out response. You say 400 million trips are made annually but then say about 1 million do so by car. You mean 399 million do so by air?

Anonymous
11 months ago

I meant about a million travel by car daily. Sorry about that.

Anonymous
11 months ago

Even then, airlines have started to replace some routes via buses, similar to what Lufthansa did with the Lufthansa Airport Express to get rid of the costly flight between Dusseldorf and Frankfurt.

h76
11 months ago

Desantis finally made Disney straight, pay some taxes finally to the State!

Anonymous
11 months ago

lmao to fools like you. State rushed the bill through and now the citizens of Orlando could be on the hook for the billion in munibonds that Reedy Creek district had on its books

Not Anonymous
11 months ago

And he just risked billions in tourism revenue and more than 80,000 jobs that are directly connected to Disney.

Anonymous
11 months ago

all so that he can claim that stood up against “Woke Corporations” when 2024 rolls around

Anonymous
11 months ago

Well said, now let’s vote the mother fuc-er out of office!

Anonymous
11 months ago

Yeah, let’s vote one of the counties best governors out of office. Brilliant!!!

Anonymous
11 months ago

You think they didn’t think this through and just thought, oh well let’s take the tax liability off of a multi-billion dollar corp and on to local citizens.

Anonymous
11 months ago

They didn’t think it through at all. They were just following DeSantis and his edicts.