Florida's new high-speed rail venture has its sights set on a customer niche who are short on time and possibly not short of money: Cruise passengers who want a fast trip from Port Miami to the Orlando-area theme parks. Brightline, soon to change its branding to Virgin Trains, USA, will add a station at PortMiami, home to 22 cruise lines.
The railroad now operates from Miami to South Palm Beach with a single stop at Fort Lauderdale. It announced this summer that it had secured financing for an extension to Orlando, 175 miles to the north, bringing passengers to the big theme parks, including Disney and Universal, tripling the length of the railroad. The project includes 40 miles of new 125 mph track and upgrading 129 miles of track owned by other railroads to 110 mph capability.
The Orlando extension is planned to be operating by summer 2022; the PortMiami station is to open in 2020. Brightline is presently the only privately-owned mainline passenger railroad in the U.S.
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