Rail News Home Passenger Rail April 2017 Rail News: Passenger Rail Siemens is manufacturing Brightline trains in Sacramento, Calif. Shown is BrightBlue, which Siemens delivered to Florida in January. — By
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All Aboard Florida’s Chief Marketing Officer Julie Edwards has been on a speaking tour of sorts to promote Brightline, the new privately financed and operated express rail service slated to begin transporting riders between West Palm Beach and Miami this summer.Edwards has been meeting with chambers of commerce and other members of business and community groups to provide them with updates and answer questions on Brightline’s progress, as All Aboard Florida officials prepare to launch the service between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale in July, and between Fort Lauderdale and Miami in late August. Eventually, the express railroad — operating up to 110 mph — will transport travelers from Miami all the way to Orlando in about three hours. It will be the only privately owned, higher-speed intercity passenger-rail service in the United States.The main point Edwards tries to drive home is how Brightline will make life easier for South Florida residents, commuters and tourists when they want to travel between the cities. Trip times from Miami to Fort Lauderdale will be about 30 minutes; from West Miami to West Palm Beach, about 60 minutes. By car, those trips on Interstate 95 can take hours longer, especially at peak drive times.“Brightline will offer the very, very congested southeast region of 5 to 6 million people a better and more productive way to spend their time between Miami and Fort Lauderdale,” says Edwards. “With free Wi-Fi and convenient locations in city centers, it will be a smarter and less stressful way to travel.”The most common question Edwards fields during her public talks?“How will I book it?” she says. “And I tell people that a very productive way to book your tickets is through the Brightline mobile app, which you can download and then pick your train and reserve your seat.”Setting up the ticketing app is just one of myriad tasks that Edwards and other Brightline officials are focused on as opening day nears for what they’re calling the “introductory” period of express service.Meeting milestonesSince January, All Aboard Florida — a unit of
Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) — has:• shored up its executive and management team, including the hiring of former sports executive Dave Howard as Brightline’s chief executive. Howard replaces Michael Reininger, who now leads new development and growth as executive director of FECI. Additionally, the company promoted Brightline Executive Vice President of Operations Patrick Goddard to chief operating officer. Together with Howard, Goddard will oversee the day-to-day operations of Brightline trains and stations.• received two completed trainsets — BrightBlue and BrightPink — from rolling-stock supplier
Siemens’ manufacturing plant in Sacramento, Calif. As of mid-March, static testing and commissioning had begun on BrightBlue.• begun hiring, training and certifying middle managers; and• announced this summer’s service-launch timeframe.Above is the inside of one of Brightline’s Siemens-built “smart” cars, where riders will have room to store their bicycles.
As Howard and Goddard pay attention to Brightline operations, Reininger will move to FECI’s headquarters to focus on development, including the potential for expanding Brightline beyond its Miami-to-Orlando line. Moreover, FECI parent Fortress Investment Group is exploring the possibility of replicating the Brightline model of operating privately run express passenger-rail service in other U.S. locations.
“There is an unprecedented opportunity to replicate the remarkable success Brightline has built over the last five years in many other places,” Fortress Co-founder Wes Edens said March 8 in a press release. “We have proof of concept for delivering private-sector led transportation projects that can be created efficiently, quickly and profitably. As we see the impact of Brightline take hold in Florida, we’re going to look to translate our success across the country.”