“This is a big day for Florida,” Brightline CEO Michael Leininger said at the Miami station shortly after 7 a.m., before boarding the debut train bound for Orlando International Airport. “This is a moment that marks the beginning of a new industry and a blueprint for the expansion of American railroads.”
With the completion of the Orlando section, Brightline is moving forward with its $12 billion high-speed rail project from Las Vegas to Southern California, with the goal of putting 186 mph trains on U.S. tracks by 2028. Then he announced.
Mayors and other elected leaders from south-central Florida gathered at terminals in Miami and Orlando to board trains in each direction to celebrate the start of passenger service. Some say the route could be a game-changer for locals and tourists traveling between the two regions, and potentially attract more tourists. It is estimated that 35 million trips are made annually between central and southern Florida, most of them by car.
The train ride times compare favorably with driving in Florida’s congested areas, where a typical 3.5-hour drive turns into a 5-hour nightmare. Brightline trains travel at 110 mph in urban areas, increasing speeds to 110 mph in sparsely populated areas from West Palm Beach to Cocoa, and on a new track between Cocoa and Orlando that runs through the farmlands of central Florida. It travels at top speeds of 195 mph.
Brightline has been operating in South Florida since 2018, with stations in Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach. The connection to Orlando International Airport marks a significant shift in Brightline’s operations, which have operated much like commuter service through South Florida, to what is essentially an intercity service. The company plans to extend the line to Tampa.
Brightline’s Miami-Orlando service is faster than Amtrak’s service, which takes 5 to 7 hours via two long-haul routes.
Brightline projects its expansion into Orlando will eventually transport 8 million people a year. His 107-mile stretch of trains in South Florida carried more than 1.2 million passengers in 2022, and this year his number of rides increased to nearly 1.3 million through the end of August.
Friday’s first departure for Orlando (6:45 a.m., scheduled to arrive at 10:19 a.m.) was delayed slightly in Miami due to celebrations and a train accident north of Boca Raton Station. Authorities were investigating an incident early Friday morning in which a pedestrian who entered the railroad tracks was struck and killed by a Brightline train.
Railroad advocates have hailed the service as a sign of a new era for American railroads. It is also seen as a renewed private sector interest in investing in passenger service, more than 50 years after Congress created Amtrak to exempt private railroads from the obligation to provide intercity passenger rail service. .
Sally Patrenos, president of the transportation advocacy group Floridians, said the Miami-Orlando corridor is an ideal place to invest in rail connectivity, easing congestion and providing local residents and tourists with less congestion. He said it could give him an option to avoid it.
“Brightline brought private sector capital and private sector goals and ambitions to serve as a much-needed window into mobility,” Patrenos said. “And they’re not just selling a passenger rail system, they’re selling an experience. There’s internet service, there’s good food, there’s comfortable seating. It’s a full-circle experience.”
Fares that are comparable to Amtrak and competitive with airfares vary depending on when you travel and how you purchase early tickets. Flights from Miami to West Palm Beach range from $15 to $52. Economy fares from Orlando to Miami start at $79 one-way. Brightline offers 16 round-trip flights per day with hourly departures between Miami and Orlando.
“Our trains open up many new possibilities,” Reiner said in an interview this summer.