Brightline Trains Florida discussion

[jis]

There is no new station. It is not even certain that there will be a new station there.

 

[daybeers]

One interesting thing to note from the September 2019 report, the Vrgin rebranding has been pushed from the end of this year to Q2 2020. I wonder why there is a delay.

Maybe they want to get a solid bit of construction to Orlando done first. I was reading on another forum there may be delays. Does anyone know how much they've gotten done so far?

 

[jis]

They started construction four months back. How much do you suppose can be done in four months in a project scheduled for 36-40 months? [emoji57]. Say about 10%?

They have graded the base for the maintenance facility at OIA. They are in the process of clearing the RoW along SR528 and starting base work on the viaduct across the St. Johns River. They have dropped ribbon rails along the FEC RoW for the second track in places between WPB andFort Pierce, and in Indian River County.

 

[Brian_tampa]

Well, there is always the construction schedule to follow. This is from the last PAB offering memorandum from April 2019. This should answer any questions as to what gets built next, etc.. Of course this is the best we have and subject to conditions outside of VTUSA's control (such as weather, lawsuits, markets, etc..). The file is in PDF format and you might need to zoom in 200% to be able to read the print!

 

[MikefromCrete]

So that is not the new station, correct.? No platform.

How could it be the new station? The station project was just announced. Even Brightline can't move that fast.

 

[Anderson]

How could it be the new station? The station project was just announced. Even Brightline can't move that fast.

I think the question was initially whether this was likely a station location (potentially being an old station facility that could be partly repurposed).

 

[west point]

A question. If passengers are going to check bags directly to cruise ships will that mean Brightline will need some baggage cars? Can imagine that cruise ship trains will have many more passenger cars ? How long is the proposed port platform scheduled to be ?

 

[railiner]

A question. If passengers are going to check bags directly to cruise ships will that mean Brightline will need some baggage cars? Can imagine that cruise ship trains will have many more passenger cars ? How long is the proposed port platform scheduled to be ?

That’s a good question. If they were only going to provide for self-help carryon baggage, they could remove a few seats to place bag racks.
But for full service checked baggage, they would need a secure space or baggage car...

 

[jis]

They currently have checked baggage service without any baggage car. I don’t know exactly where they carry the checked baggage.

 

[user 1215]

Without going back through over 2000 posts, anyone know of potential stops on Jupiter or Melbourne?

 

[jis]

No stop planned at Melbourne at present. The Brevard County stop will be at Cocoa.

 

[railiner]

No stop planned at Melbourne at present. The Brevard County stop will be at Cocoa.

That would come in handy for cruiser’s sailing from Port Canaveral, but not so good for those flying from Melbourne, which does have a few commercial flights...

 

[jis]

But it will still be good for the vast majority of folks in Brevard County who fly out of Orlando. I live in Melbourne and have never flown in or out of Melbourne. Mostly you can get to Atlanta and RDU once or twice a day. Recently AA has started a flight on certain days and season to Washington National.

 

[user 1215]

American and Delta have begun to add more and more services to smaller markets. Brunswick, GA and Hilton Head Island, SC have increased their flights.

I would honestly rather see Amtrak come down the FEC from JAX to MIA. Doubt now they would get a slot from them with Virgin running. But Amtrak would be a better choice for more intermediate stops and keep Virgin a true Premium.

 

[Anderson]

One Mile at a Time did a review of Brightline:
https://onemileatatime.com/brightline-train-review/

 

[jis]

American and Delta have begun to add more and more services to smaller markets. Brunswick, GA and Hilton Head Island, SC have increased their flights.

I would honestly rather see Amtrak come down the FEC from JAX to MIA. Doubt now they would get a slot from them with Virgin running. But Amtrak would be a better choice for more intermediate stops and keep Virgin a true Premium.

Who is going to fund and build those one train a day Amtrak stations? Primary funding will have to come from FECR, Amtrak or Brightline. Cities might then throw in additional funding. It is only after Brightline has established hourly service that cities have been willing to pitch in. Unless the political alignments change drastically at state level there will be no help beyond tax free bonds.

 

[Anderson]

Brightline is now advertising "Train-to-Port" services:


The FAQ features one of the best questions I've seen in a while: "How do I redeem my mimosa?"

 

[Anderson]

Who is going to fund and build those one train a day Amtrak stations? Primary funding will have to come from FECR, Amtrak or Brightline. Cities might then throw in additional funding. It is only after Brightline has established hourly service that cities have been willing to pitch in. Unless the political alignments change drastically at state level there will be no help beyond tax free bonds.

I think you might be able to get sufficient local support (and possibly some federal grants) to make some Amshacks happen, but the odds are pretty good that Brightline will have two words for such stations on their line which aren't "Merry Christmas". Something along the lines of the Norfolk station (which I see cost $3.75m) might be acceptable to all parties (presuming it could be upgraded for Brightline's boarding/use practices). That's still quite a bit of money if you're looking at, say. a half-dozen additional stops ($22.5m in 2012-ish dollars, probably somewhere in the range of $25-30m now) but not utterly insane. Under a friendly administration, I could see Amtrak putting in for a RRIF loan for part of that on the basis of their ridership projections from the Silver Service PIP (or as part of a reorganization of the Silver Service...if Brightline gets to Tampa I suspect Amtrak is going to take about a 100k hit to overall ridership down there).

 

[cirdan]

They currently have checked baggage service without any baggage car. I don’t know exactly where they carry the checked baggage.

Tongue in cheek question here.

Do they even carry the checked baggage?

I know that in Switzerland for example, there is a checked baggage service but you need to check your bags the day before you travel and they go in a van by road.

The few trains that still have baggage cars or baggage areas actually use them for bicycles, which need to be stowed there by the passengers themselves.

 

[JRR]

Tongue in cheek question here.

Do they even carry the checked baggage?

I know that in Switzerland for example, there is a checked baggage service but you need to check your bags the day before you travel and they go in a van by road.

The few trains that still have baggage cars or baggage areas actually use them for bicycles, which need to be stowed there by the passengers themselves.

On the Rocky Mountaineer, the bags go by truck!

 

[west point]

There is a problem with Amtrak using Brightline stations. Bright line station platforms when on FEC mainline tracks are about 1 foot back from Brightline train cars. Brightline cars have an extendable walkway that closes this gap. Amtrak would need some kind of bridging plate from vestibule to station platforms for every car vestibule !
Believe that any Brightline station off FEC mainlines do not have this gap ?

 

[jis]

Tongue in cheek question here.

Do they even carry the checked baggage?

I know that in Switzerland for example, there is a checked baggage service but you need to check your bags the day before you travel and they go in a van by road.

The few trains that still have baggage cars or baggage areas actually use them for bicycles, which need to be stowed there by the passengers themselves.

Brightline accepts checked baggage upto 15 mins before departure and delivers them within 10 mins of arrival. So they certainly carry checked baggage. They are much better than Amtrak in handling them.

 

[daybeers]

Brightline accepts checked baggage upto 15 mins before departure and delivers them within 10 mins of arrival. So they certainly carry checked baggage. They are much better than Amtrak in handling them.

Where do they put the bags on the train?

 

[Anderson]

Brightline accepts checked baggage upto 15 mins before departure and delivers them within 10 mins of arrival. So they certainly carry checked baggage. They are much better than Amtrak in handling them.

Yeah. A friend rode with me on Brightline one day, and then a few days later was quite bemused at the Amtrak staff at ORL refusing to take my bags within half an hour of train departure (forcing me into a trainside check from a conductor who rolled his eyes at the station staff) even though the train was running about 10-15 minutes behind on the way in (so it was over half an hour until the train got in). He commented quite frankly that Amtrak "didn't have its act together".

 

[NES28]

There is a problem with Amtrak using Brightline stations. Bright line station platforms when on FEC mainline tracks are about 1 foot back from Brightline train cars. Brightline cars have an extendable walkway that closes this gap. Amtrak would need some kind of bridging plate from vestibule to station platforms for every car vestibule !
Believe that any Brightline station off FEC mainlines do not have this gap ?

Amtrak does use bridgeplates at high level platforms at various stations. Certainly a lot less crazy than building your own, poorly-located stations for 2 daily trains. Miami Central would be a great terminal.