ORLANDO — Brightline is set to nearly double service between Orlando and Miami on Monday, Oct. 9, moving from eight to 15 daily round trips.
Trains from Orlando to Miami run on a near-hourly basis beginning at 4:38 a.m. (good for an 8:11 a.m. arrival in Miami), with the last departure at 8:54 p.m. (arriving at 12:32 a.m.) The largest gaps in southbound departures are 2 hours late in the day, with departures at 4:54 p.m., 6:54 p.m., and 8:54 p.m.
From Miami to Orlando, departures begin at 6:41 a.m. (arriving at 10:19 a.m.) and conclude at 9:41 p.m. (arriving at 1:19 a.m.). The largest service gap southbound is 2 hours between 12:41 p.m. and 2:41 p.m.
The company had initially announced plans for 16 round trips beginning later this month, but dropped one planned afternoon departure in each direction to avoid potential conflicts with Florida East Coast Railway freight service.
Schedule and booking information is available at the Brightline website.
Good you Brightline. Maybe you can teach Amtrak a few lessons.
Do you really think Amtrak can be taught?
The beloved Brightline continues to play big in a planned manner and it shows.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Double Hiawathas to 14?
Far and away Amtrak’s best corridor in the middle states has half the frequency of Brightline.
To be fair to Amtrak (and the two sponsoring states) I don’t know if there’s enough potential traffic to add Hiawatha frequencies. All I do know is that many existing trains are pretty much sold out.
Little know factoid: maybe about 15 years ago, Amtrak and Wisconsin DOT bragged about an added frequency, an early morning train CHI to MKE, and a corresponding southbound train in the late hours. The real reason was closing the Milwaukee crew base and all equipment would lay over in Chicago overnight. Be that as it may, the new trains served a need and are well patronized.
Those NIMBYs northern IL convinced the IDOT not to build that passing track a few years ago(?). Until IDOT has the courage to pursue it again, why doesn’t Amtrak just add more new coaches to its existing Hiawathas?