The day has lastly arrived.
After years of anticipation, months of testing and a number of delays, Brightline formally launched passenger service to (and from) its brand-new station at Orlando Worldwide Airport (MCO) on Friday.
This marks a significant milestone for the corporate, which has been working trains between Miami and West Palm Seaside, Florida, since January 2018. With this latest enlargement, now you can journey from South Florida to Central Florida (or vice versa) with out braving the realm’s infamous freeway site visitors or coping with the trouble of airport safety.
I used to be given a seat on the inaugural prepare to cowl this thrilling new growth for TPG — here is what it was like.
Departure from South Florida
As a resident of the Treasure Coast, West Palm Seaside is the closest Brightline station for me, so my journey started there simply because the solar rose within the September sky.
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NICK EWEN/THE POINTS GUY
The inaugural prepare left Miami at 6:41 a.m. and made stops at its different South Florida stations. Nonetheless, it wound up being delayed in reaching us. After speeches from native dignitaries, together with the mayor of West Palm Seaside and the realm’s congressional consultant, we boarded and departed shortly earlier than 9 a.m., virtually an hour behind the initially scheduled time.
When the prepare in the end pulled out of the station, a surreal feeling washed over me.
These of us on the inaugural service have been the primary passengers to journey the rails alongside this stretch of Florida’s east coast in additional than 55 years. Florida East Coast Railway, which nonetheless owns the tracks and operates frequent freight trains alongside them, ceased passenger service on July 31, 1968.
As we continued north, the populated stretches alongside the tracks quickly gave strategy to undeveloped Florida scrub crossing into Martin County, with nothing however prepare tracks and vegetation to see. It actually felt like we had stepped again in time, and we have been seeing roughly what you’ll have seen within the Sixties when passengers final made this journey.
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NICK EWEN/THE POINTS GUY
Besides, in fact, for the prepare itself, which is provided with the entire trendy conveniences a traveler wants. Every seat has a number of energy retailers, and the Wi-Fi actually was high-speed based mostly on my expertise and the take a look at I ran.
I used to be even in a position to efficiently be part of (and take part in) our morning editorial crew name on Zoom.
All passengers on this inaugural prepare have been served a continental breakfast and supplied a alternative of nonalcoholic drinks, although passengers on common service have a wide range of meals and beverage gadgets for buy (they’re complimentary for these within the Premium coach).
The temper on board was festive, with different members of the media and varied VIPs collaborating within the run to Orlando. That pleasure prolonged exterior as properly, because the prepare was greeted by a small crowd in Stuart together with a fireplace division water cannon.
My eyes have been glued to the home windows as we made our approach by means of my hometown of Fort Pierce earlier than persevering with on by means of Vero Seaside and Cocoa. The surroundings alongside the route was merely spectacular.
Then, the actual enjoyable started as we turned to the west and onto the brand-new tracks constructed particularly for Brightline alongside the Martin Andersen Beachline Expressway (state Street 528). With no grade crossings and fencing on each side, we reached 125 mph for the ultimate stretch of the journey.
The automobiles alongside the freeway stood no likelihood of maintaining as we traversed the 30-plus miles in solely 18 minutes because the tower at Orlando Worldwide Airport got here into view.
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NICK EWEN/THE POINTS GUY
Earlier than lengthy, the prepare was pulling into the Orlando station.
Arrival in Orlando
The ambiance on board exploded into outright celebration as we stepped onto the platform. An enormous welcoming committee was available to greet the prepare, together with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, varied Brightline executives and the cheer squad from the College of Central Florida.
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NICK EWEN/THE POINTS GUY
The festivities continued with a welcome reception contained in the cavernous station, and you might really feel the power pulsing by means of the room. This felt historic — and for good cause. Brightline has been working towards this second for over a decade, and now, each residents and vacationers alike can expertise high-speed rail alongside Florida’s east coast.
Security issues
Sadly, Brightline has skilled quite a few deadly accidents because it started working, and Friday’s inaugural prepare was sadly delayed by a tragic accident involving a pedestrian and a southbound prepare. Not one of the accidents have been decided to be Brightline’s fault, and the corporate has spent hundreds of thousands of {dollars} on security enhancements at grade crossings. It additionally launched a public-relations push to encourage all residents alongside its hall to decide to staying secure. Nonetheless, it’s a very actual and ongoing component of this service in Florida.
We hope these efforts will proceed to additional scale back these incidents in communities that see frequent Brightline trains coming by means of.
Backside line
I’ve taken Brightline between West Palm Seaside and Miami a number of occasions to keep away from South Florida’s infamous site visitors, so I jumped on the likelihood to expertise the expanded service to Orlando on the inaugural prepare. And like all of my previous experiences, this one was improbable.
Apart from an preliminary delay, it was superb to take a passenger prepare from South Florida to Orlando. It helps that Brightline is not simply any prepare. I might put its facilities and luxury up towards among the high European rail merchandise, and this new service will make it simpler to discover extra of the state with out driving or flying.
And the corporate is not achieved.
With plans to increase to Tampa and development underway on its deliberate Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas route, we possible have not heard the final from Brightline because it seeks to rework prepare service in the USA.
