Brightline, the only private operator of intercity passenger trains, is about to launch new service in Florida. Next? Trains at 186 mph between Las Vegas and Southern California.
Amtrak says it views other rail providers as complementary to its offerings, coming as the nation’s longtime passenger rail — newly flush with billions of federal dollars — embarks on its own plan to add 39 routes while linking dozens more cities. President Biden, whose fondness for the system earned him the nickname “Amtrak Joe,” is perhaps the bipartisan project’s biggest booster.
Five years after Brightline opened its 67-mile service between Miami and West Palm Beach, passengers fill the five-car trains for sporting events and festivals while commuters use it to get to jobs. Students receive discounted passes for educational excursions. Other differences compared to Amtrak include assigned seating — which Amtrak offers only on its Acela route and business-class fares on select trains — a security checkpoint before boarding and passenger use of conference rooms at stations.
“Florida is Version 1.0, and we think it’s a great 1.0,” said Wes Edens, the billionaire co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team and co-founder of Fortress Investment Group, which owns Brightline. “Version 2.0, the high-speed rail from Vegas to L.A., we think is the real embodiment of what high-speed rail can and should look like. And that’s the system that people will look at and emulate when they look at building systems around the country.
Among other projects at various stages, California is building a 500-mile system to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco that has been marred by delays and cost overruns. Its price tag, at $128 billion, is nearly quadruple the $33 billion project voters approved in 2008. A 119-mile section is under construction and projections call for a 171-mile segment connecting Merced, Fresno and Bakersfield to open between 2030 and 2033.
“I really think seeing is believing, and when we get even one of these up and running — which I do think can happen in this decade — then Americans will demand more,” he said. a U.S. tendency to build larger stations with longer construction timelines have made some projects cost-prohibitive. The grant is intended to cover nearly one-third of the project’s cost, officials said, while the company would use private capital and tax-free debt known as private activity bonds to finance the rest. An award would be one of the biggest infusions of federal funding on a privately developed transportation project in modern history, while it would give Brightline an important boost to break ground this year.
For its part, Amtrak is also pushing a major expansion. It plans to increase speeds in the Northeast and expand to new cities nationwide. Among its proposed new routes is service in possible Brightline markets: Miami and Orlando, and restoring the train connection between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Fifty million trips are made between Southern California and Las Vegas each year, mostly via private vehicles, according to project ridership studies. Brightline wants to capture 11 million of those trips annually.
“We can’t wait another 30 years to build a rail system,” Kunz said. Completing one project, he said, would give the nation a taste of the type of rail service only available internationally.Back in South Florida, Liliana Rodriguez takes the train about weekly to her daughter’s house in Boca Raton, where she’s been helping care for her two grandchildren. The rail option avoids the 50-mile drive on congested I-95.
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