RAILWAY AGE AUGUST 2025 ISSUE: For 115 years after Railway Age began publishing in 1856, passenger trains were operated by private-sector railroads. That changed in 1971, when Amtrak was formed to keep a small number of trains going, while most were discontinued; a change that represented financial relief for hard-pressed railroads. During the 1970s and 80s, the railroads were able to turn their local passenger operations over to public-sector transit authorities, who kept them going, mostly in the nation’s largest cities. The last private sector passenger train, except for tourist railroads, was operated by the Denver & Rio Grande as the Rio Grande Zephyr between Denver and Salt Lake City on a tri-weekly schedule until 1983. Then it became part of today’s Callifornia Zephyr route in Amtrak’s long-distance network.
Today there is talk of private-sector passenger trains once again. Two potential operators want to run overnight business-oriented trains, including luxury features. RAILnet-21 proposes an investor-owned Infrastructure Management Organization (IMO) that would manage Amtrak’s mileage on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) and elsewhere, while AmeriStarRail (ASR) has proposed operating more trains on the NEC and its branches than Amtrak runs today, and with some additional routes. We recently reported on ASR’s plan for the Transcontinental Chief, which would run between New York and Washington, D.C. in the East and Los Angeles in the West, including on the historic Santa Fe route where Amtrak’s Southwest Chief runs today. Still, these are all proposals, rather than trains running.
It Started in Florida
There is one significant private-sector passenger operation in the United States today. It’s Brightline, which runs between Miami and Orlando Airport, with intermediate stops that include Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. It began as All Aboard Florida (AAF) in 2012, became Brightline in 2015, and began operating on the southern part of the Florida East Coast Railroad (FEC) in 2018. For more than five years, Brightline operated a unique three-stop service between downtown Miami and West Palm Beach, with its only intermediate stop in downtown Fort Lauderdale. It was new-looking, novel, and faster than the more-traditional local service offered on Tri-Rail, mostly located several miles inland.
On Sept. 22, 2023, Brightline began serving Orlando International Airport (code MCO), a northward extension that had been in the works for years. The journey from AAF to MCO (or OIA, as some people like to call it) has not been a smooth one, but it has attracted a lot of attention, including reports in the local Florida papers and other media, national news outlets, and publications such as Railway Age. Brightline’s path toward Orlando has had more twists and turns than the actual railroad.
AAF was started in 2012 by Florida East Coast Industries, a real estate arm of Fortress Investment Group. In that sense, the railroad’s founders emulated the FEC’s founder, real estate developer Henry M. Flagler, who was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The upgrades to the FEC for Brightline service were financed by private activity bond sales. An Oct. 8, 2014 article in the Palm Beach Post called the financing deal an “All Aboard Florida Shocker.”
Construction started in 2014 and the first service, between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, began in 2018. It was extended to downtown Miami later that year, to a station that today also hosts Tri-Rail’s “Miami Link,” but with separate entrances for each service. They run on different railroads and serve different customer bases, and Miami Central Station is the only point where they meet.
I have reported relatively often on Brightline since I came on board at Railway Age in 2018. The first major story I covered was Brightline’s flirtation with Richard Branson’s Virgin brand. The Brightline brand disappeared briefly, and Branson’s Virgin Group hailed the “Red Spike Era” for “Virgin Trains, USA,” but Brightline and Branson had a falling-out and the Brightline brand came back. Branson sued in London and won a judgment there, but the Brightline brand remains part of the American rail scene.
The original FEC service ran between Miami and Jacksonville, and served as the Florida segment of through-routed trains to and from places like New York and Chicago. The trains served such tourist meccas as St. Augustine and Daytona Beach in those days, as well as the areas now known as the Space Coast and the Treasure Coast. That operation ended when a multi-year strike began in 1963, and the FEC discontinued the last remnant of the old service in 1968. Communities like Stuart, Fort Pierce, Vero Beach, and Cocoa lost their trains and have not hosted a passenger train since. Affected counties, especially Indian River County (where Vero Beach is), sued Brightline over financial and safety issues, although some residents were aggrieved because they would not have the benefit of any trains stopping in their towns. Infill stations at Aventura and Boca Raton, on the part of the line where service began in 2018, opened for service in December 2022. There are also plans to build new infill stations at Stuart and Cocoa, which are north of West Palm Beach, and service is expected to start in 2028.
Brightline ceased operations for a time during the COVID-19 pandemic, but came back on November 8, 2021 after an absence of 19½ months. The next big news came on September 22, 2023, when trains ran to Orlando Airport for the first time. The FEC route between West Palm Beach and Cocoa was upgraded, and Brightline built new railroad along the Beachline Expressway between Cocoa and Orlando Airport; track rated for 125 mph. It’s not “high-speed rail” by international standards, but we call it “high-performance rail.” We covered these and other events through the years at Railway Age.
The trip takes 3:25 or 3:30 between Miami and Orlando Airport, and trains run roughly hourly for most of the service day. Train sets previously consisted of four cars: one “premium class” car with 2-1 seating, and three “smart class” (Brightline’s name for a conventional coach) with 2-2 seating. There is now an additional coach or two, with a 4000-HP Siemens Charger SCB-40 unit at each end. Brightline has ten such sets and ordered 30 more cars to lengthen them. Some of those cars are already in service.
High-Speed Rail Under Construction at Brightline West
Meanwhile, as Brightline was developing its service in Florida, efforts were under way to serve Las Vegas, Nevada with passenger trains for the first time since 1997. The initiative began as DesertXpress in 2005 and later became XpressWest. The original plan was to run between Las Vegas and a point in the Victor Valley in Southern California. The nearest town of any size is Victorville, a stop on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief located about three hours’ running time east of Los Angeles. Fortress Investment Group acquired XpressWest in 2018 and rebranded the project as Brightline West in 2020.
Construction started in 2024, and most of the line will be built in the median of highway I-15. Plans call for a “Victor Valley” station in the town of Apple Valley and one at Hesperia, also in the Mojave Desert region. The line will be single track with passing sidings, which will require precise scheduling and operation, especially since the top speed is slated to be 200 mph (FRA Class 9 track), which meets the standard for true high-speed rail. Siemens will supply ten seven-car trainsets, and the line will be electrically operated. Current plans call for service to begin late in 2028, running 45-minute headways.
Plans also call for an extension to a “Southern California Station” (as the Brightline West website, www.brightlinewest.com, calls it) at Rancho Cucamonga. That location is currently served by the San Bernardino Line on Metrolink, which runs regional trains, mostly to and from Los Angeles. Brightline West says that the station “will be co-located with existing multi-modal transportation options, including Metrolink, for seamless connectivity to Downtown Los Angeles and other destinations through Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties.” That’s where Metrolink goes.
The current Metrolink schedule would not provide connections for all Brightline West trains, but it will allow access to the Los Angeles catchment area, with its millions of people. With the recent expansion of rail transit in and near the city, Los Angeles has become a place where it is possible to live without an automobile, and some Angelinos are doing that. They are slated to have access to Las Vegas through Brightline West, even though it would be a two-seat ride, with a transfer at Rancho Cucamonga. There is also a proposal to build a second route that would allow riders to reach the Los Angeles area: the High Desert Corridor. It would run from The Victor Valley Station near Victorville, west to Palmdale on Metrolink’s Antelope Valley Line, which terminates further north at Lancaster. It would connect with Metrolink (schedule permitting) for a two-seat ride to or from the city. Palmdale is also a proposed stop on the currently embattled California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR), line if that line is completed.
According to Brightline West spokesperson Antonio Castelan, the Las Vegas station would be “right on Las Vegas Boulevard near Warm Springs Road – right next to the I-15. This is about ten minutes south of the Strip.” He added: “The train station will be set up as a mobility hub. Passengers will be able to connect with rideshare services, buses, and regional transit. We are making our passengers’ travel as convenient as possible.”
Brightline West Starts Building
Castalan told Railway Age construction is moving forward: “Brightline West has completed approximately 99% of its field investigations, including geotechnical borings, utility potholing, and environmental surveys along the I-15 corridor. Initial construction activities are underway in both California and Nevada, with the first heavy civil work expected to ramp up in late 2025.” He also said: “The route will span approximately 218 miles with trains operating predominantly within the I-15 median. Plans include wildlife crossings, grade separations, desert-adapted infrastructure, and a mix of single- and double-track sections designed to reduce environmental impact while maintaining high-speed performance.” He projected a travel time for that distance of 2 hours and 10 minutes, which would place the average speed at slightly more than 100 mph; within the range of what we call “high-performance” rail. Some segments will allow faster speeds, specifically the part along the median of I-15. According to Castalan, “The corridor supports maximum line speeds of 200 mph, with everyday operational caps near 186 mph, except where gradients or terrain necessitate lower speeds.”
While there was hope that the line could be open for service in time for the upcoming Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, Brightline West managers no longer expect that. According to Castalan: “Recent bond documents and statements took time to finalize. Brightline West still anticipates completing construction by the end of 2028.”
On the Florida side, the big news came almost two years ago, when service began on the extension to Orlando Airport. Efforts are continuing to secure financing through bonds for capital construction on the Sunshine Corridor in the Orlando area, which Brightline and local operation SunRail plan to share, and a further extension to Tampa. WFLA in Tampa reported on July 18 that the proposed extension to that city is gaining community support.
Challenges Along the Way
Safety has become an issue lately, in light of an investigative report and podcast by the Miami Herald and local NPR station WLRN about accidents along the line, questionably titled Killer Train. In response, Brightline criticized the report in the Herald and defended its safety record, saying: “Safety is the top priority at Brightline. We have been a leader in the industry on safety initiatives related to education, enforcement, and engineering. As a result of our focus, including our significant investments in safety infrastructure, none of the incidents along the railroad have been the result of improper train handling by Brightline personnel or failure of our equipment or infrastructure. The incidents we have seen in Florida are the same ones facing other railroads around the nation.” Brightline also said: “We have an ongoing, cooperative and strong relationship with the Federal Railroad Administration and the Florida Department of Transportation and are fully compliant with all federal and state regulations.”
WLRN also reported on July 16 that Brightline’s ridership had dropped and so had its bond rating. Trains were lengthened recently to increase capacity, and departures that had been cut from the schedule returned in June. However, Chris Persaud reported in the Palm Beach Post on July 18 that South Florida ridership had grown for the first time in years. He reported that there were 84,000 passengers in the region in June 2025 compared to 150,000 in June 2023. He began his report: “For the first time in about two years, the private passenger train Brightline is gaining riders following its reintroduction of commuter passes for the tri-county area, but ridership in the region still lags far behind 2023 figures.” The least-expensive fare is $15 per ride on a 40-ride ticket. A comparable ticket charged $10 per ride until the program was killed last year. According to Persaud, Brightline brought in $16.9 million in June; up 11% from last year, and $105.9 million for the first half of 2025, up 12% from last year. He also reported: “Brightline lost about $549 million in 2024, in large part due to paying $218 million to refinance its debt of about $4.6 billion.”
In the meantime, Brightline does not appear to be fazed by these challenges, as it continues its marketing and promotional efforts. The latest development is the opening of Central Fare, a new food hall located next to the Miami Central Station that Brightline shares with local railroad Tri-Rail. According to Brightline Communications Consultant Michael Hicks, the Miami Central Food Collective will feature twelve vendors, all of which are locally based.
An Advocate’s View
James Tilley is President of the Florida Coalition of Railroad Passengers (FRCP) and has also been a Railway Age contributor. This is his assessment of the future of Brightline: “Brightline has been a godsend. I no longer drive all the way to south Florida from Jacksonville but will drop the car in Orlando and take the train from there. Reasonably fast – especially between Orlando and Cocoa prior to operating over FEC. But, more importantly, incredibly reliable even with shared freight trackage.” Tilley looks forward to the planned Cocoa station and added: “There can be little doubt that the build out from Orlando to Tamp will be well patronized.” Regarding the financial side, he told Railway Age: “It is difficult to envision Brightline’s existence absent common ownership of both FEC and Brightline by Fortress. In its previous role as FEC’s owner Fortress was able to press forward with a major passenger project. Their financial wherewithal facilitated funding by bringing a credible reputation to the security markets” and “The FEC possessed a real estate portfolio that Fortress retains control over that has reaped the benefit of increased values due to the access to high quality rail service.” He also struck a cautionary note about Brightline’s finances: “However, as a standalone business, it is difficult to envision the future. The railroad is highly leveraged, and its debt service is heavy. Operating losses remain significant despite the growth of revenue and passenger count. While Brightline returns to the bond market for funds to build out the Tampa extension the ratings agencies have expressed concerns regarding the increasing load of debt Brightline now carries which will increase.”
East and West Sides of Brightline Plan Ahead
Both sides of Brightline have ambitious plans, especially Brightline West, which would become the first true high-speed rail line in the United States if things go as planned. Expansion plans for Brightline in Florida are more modest, with the next potential extension being the proposed Sunshine Corridor running west from Orlando Airport, which Brightline and local predominantly-commuter railroad SunRail would share. While still several years off, the Sunshine Corridor would help Brightline reach Tampa, a destination that was set to receive an FRA grant during the Obama Administration until Gov. Rick Scott rejected the money and it was redirected to projects elsewhere.
There has also been talk of extending some Brightline service north on the historic FEC main, all the way to Jacksonville. At this time, all we know is that Brightline has trackage rights, so such an extension could come. Until 1963, the FEC was the preferred route for many Florida vacationers as well as South Florida residents, for two reasons: it served the popular destinations that were developed by Henry M. Flagler for the FEC, and it was faster than the route that Amtrak currently uses, along with other routes on the historic Seaboard and Atlantic Coast Line Railroads. Both are now parts of CSX.
If Brightline ever runs as far as Jacksonville and manages to connect with trains from points north, rail travel to Florida will have come full circle and returned to its original popular route. It will be a case of either “Forward, into the Past” or “Back to the Future” of rail travel in the Sunshine State. In the meantime, and management hopes much sooner, Brightline West could be running genuine high-speed rail on at least a part of the route between Los Angeles and Las Vegas—even if it requires a two-seat ride to go all the way; at least until Brightline West can reach Los Angeles Union Station.
