ORLANDO — A Brightline train has hit speeds of 130 mph in testing on passenger operator’s corridor between Orlando and Cocoa, Fla., the company announced this morning (March 6, 2023), making it the fastest train ever to operate in Florida and the southeastern U.S.
The 35-mile route paralleling the Beachline Expressway (State Route 528) is fenced and has no grade crossings. Brightline plans to operate at 125 when passenger service begins, but is required during testing to run at faster than planned operating speeds.
“Reaching 130 isn’t just another milestone to our team, but the continuation of a dream that we’ve been working towards for several years,” Patrick Goddard, president of Brightline Trains, said in a press release. “More importantly, this historic feat brings us one step closer to launching Brightline service between Orlando and Miami.”
The company surpassed its previous top speed of 110 mph, set last fall in testing through Martin and St. Lucie counties.
“Florida has alway been at the forefront of train travel since the days when Henry Flagler connected Jacksonville to the Keys,” said Jim Kovalsky, president, Florida East Coast Railway Society. “Back then, there were reports that trains ran at 100 mph, but no one ever dreamed of reaching 130 mph. Brightline dreamed big and did it. History has been made and Henry Flagler would be proud.”
The trainset involved includes two 4,000-hp Siemens SCB40 locomotives and four coaches. Testing includes proving the positive train control needed for high speed operation [see “Brightline update: PTC plans outlined …,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 3, 2023].
Testing on the Orlando-Cocoa corridor is slated to continue daily between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. as Brightline works toward a target of starting service between Orlando and Miami in the second quarter of 2023.
Good to see this but I routinely ride at 300 kph = 186 mph on a nice roller-coaster route between Frankfurt and Köln (Cologne) and (before the pandemic) at 330 kph = 205 mph for 3hr45 min non-stop Nanjing-Beijing, also 300 kph Brussels – Liege (Luik) – London (except slower through the Chunnel). Those governments invest in this infrastructure the same way they invest in highways. Note I am not comparing political systems, just rail systems.
The tests of the high speed trains next to the highway is one of the best advertisements for Brightline. Seeing the train speed by faster than highway traffic especially if traffic is heavy will make car drivers think next time I might try taking the train. If the service is regular and the fares reasonable the service should do good. Will it be profitable? Maybe but they will have to work hard to convince many people to trade using a car for the faster train ride and good connections to resorts and attractions along the route is worth the price.
World speed record of a diesel-electric set on 1st November 1987, still valid as far as I know: HST 43102 / 43159 top and tailing 3 cars at Stoke Bank, north of Peterborough, England: 148.5 mph, 239 km/h.
As for cracking down on speeding motorists chasing Brightline trains, this also goes for any reckless and irresponible railfans trying to shoot videos or photos while driving. Their reckless actions not only put their lives in danger but the thousands of other motorists that share the road with them. If anybody wants to get photos or shoot a video of Brightline trains there are plenty of safe spots to do it and also on public areas that are safe and legal to do so. Especially today with the advanced photo equipment and using Zoom lens, you can get great photos and videos of the trains without risking your life or others around you and also staying on the right side of the law. Reckless and careless, irresponsibile railfans are not only a hazard and danger to both people and railroads but also give our hobby a bad name and reputation and makes people who don’t understand our love and interest think that we are crazy and childish and of course arouses the attention of the railroad and law enforcement for all the wrong reasons. Enjoy train watching, take photos and videos but only in a safe manner and in a public space and not on private property and no chasing down a high speed train such as Brightline on a crowded , fast moving freeway where your concentration and effort should be driving your car in a safe responible manner with regard to the other drivers sharing the road with you
Safe railfanning is the only way
Joseph C. Markfelder
So we need to talk about the elephant in the room here. I love Brightline, love what they have done to bring passenger service back to the FEC and create a much more useful Orlando-South Florida link than the meandering Amtrak Silver Service. But Brightline has been pulling the wool over the eyes for years and I’m concerned where this story ends.
To back up, you have to understand that Brightline/FEC/Fortress/GrupoMexico is a real estate play, based on developing land around stations. They have no chance of making the trains actually pay for themselves. Consider that the highest ridership they have EVER had in a year is 1.2M. Sounds good until you go back and read the All Aboard Florida Ridership and Revenue Study from 2013 and realize that the minimum business case was based on 2M per year for the South Florida segment (and ideally 2.6M). They projected to carry another 2M on the Orlando segment, which will simply never happen.
Note also that the fares have not been disclosed. A Brown University study in 2015 figured the line would have to charge about $300 from Orlando to Miami to service the debt. Maybe there are bond subsidies and other mechanisms not known at that time that will bring this down but I suspect the fare will still be quite high, and that brings us back to the need to attract 2M riders just on the Orlando segment.
In short, Brightline won’t work without massive public subsidy. Which is fine — give them a subsidy, tie it into SunRail and TriRail and so on. But let’s not fool ourselves that fully private rail actually works in this century.
I’ll take that bet. I believe in capitalism. Sadly, you do not. I believe in vision. Sadly, you do not. I believe that delivering a product people want will be profitable. Sadly, you do not. I’ll bet on capitalism, innovation, and the dreams of people.
The Brown Study from 2013 only looked at what kind of farebox is needed to pay the debt. It didn’t identify any other revenue sources becuase AAF didn’t tell them where all of it was coming from. So Brown just made a straight calculation, debt divided by number of planned riders.
Brightline has always said that the rail service will be driven by tourism and development of nearby real estate. While it didn’t work as planned, there is a reason Richard Branson wanted to associate the Virgin name with the service.
Brightline will be part of the massive travel bundling industry which is very popular overseas. Tourists can buy all inclusive trips and stays which have transporation bundled into the price. Virgin originally wanted to tie their Miami based cruise ships with their airline to a rail service, which would make Virgin Travel one of the larger travel bundlers globally.
Fly Virgin Atlantic to Florida. Cruise the Caribbean. Take a train to Disney/Universal. Or get off and stay at a Virgin hotel on one of the beaches. Gamble at a tribal casino. All activities that have margin associated them.
Virgin sees the same in Brightline West. Tourists fly to Vegas or LA on Virgin Atlantic. See Hollywood, do the Disney junket, cruise o Mexico or Hawaii, then take train to Vegas and gamble at a Virgin casino and take in the sights.
Branson wanted to ride on that real estate as well until covid crimped his ambitions. So Brightline will go at it on their own.
Mr. Skyscraper, there is always a chance it won’t work as planned. That is just life. And I do remember a poster just like yourself who said all of this several years ago. In fact I recognized this post as almost identical.
A scathing letter in Progressive Railroading back in 2012 said the whole thing was a private ponzi. To get it all built up to the point it appears to be indispensible to the politicos and they will gladly subsidize it until the earth crumbles. Then Fortress/Softbank will simply write off the loss, sell off the assets and move elsewhere. Well, I think that is a little to cynical personally, but I am not blind. Fortress had AAF design the service regions with the idea they could be sold or leased to others in the future. The collateral for many of the bonds they sold are tied to the rails, cars and stations they built (but not the land). The revenue will not only come off Miami Central, but the 2 other air rights skyscrapers they built. All of the parking garages they are building along the way. All of the residential and vacation condos they are developing along the ROW. They *could* sell the rails, cars and stations and keep the rest technically and let someone else mess with the rail service.
Great accomplishment! Curious if there is a new operating rule requirement for the ditch lights to be activated entire route (and the bell rung) regardless of line of road circumstances (no crossings and no station stops).
There is no such rule, however, due to all the crossings en route it’s become a de facto default practice.
I wonder if the Florida Highway Patrol is starting to see an increase in speeding tickets by motorists trying to keep up with the train.
Back in the1970’s the CHP tripled the number of speeding violations on CA-24 next to the then new BART tracks from Oakland to Walnut Creek.
Joseph Markfelder you said what I have thought and said to myself for years. We had one of the best rail transportation systems in the world at one time with new innovations, and emphasis on the users of the equipment. We have definitely lost our way in infrastructure, maintenance, and new innovations.
This is passenger rail done right. Please come to the Midwest.
Wow! Just! Wow! Impressive motion.
All the best to Brightline, a railroad fueled by people of vision.
That’s the kind of right away the class 1’s should have. Then maybe they could keep there trains on the track not the ground!
130 mph for Brightline and 150 for Amtrak’s Acela Express may be small potatoes for the rail lines in Europe and Asia where 130 mph is routine and even the nations of Japan who pioneered high speed passenger rail travel and China who are working on trainsets that can reach speeds of 200 mph and above but consider in this great country of ours how rail travel has sunk to all time lows and our passenger carrier Amtrak is stumbling and tripping over itself and awash in error and inefficiency and has lost the respect and interest of the traveling public. Brightline is a harbinger and an example of what passenger rail travel can become in the future and for this country . True, Brightline is only a small operation now but over time, watch it grow into something that will grow and atrract millions of passengers and this also includes the Brightline West project that is being planned and soon to begin construction. A great nation like us can pour billions of dollars to explore the vast wasteland of space and return to a floating rock in space known as the Moon or the wasteland called Mars. but we can’t build a decent transportation system in this country and that includes top notch high speed passenger rail travel, decent highways and better airports and comfortable planes to fly in. This nation needs to get its priorities in order and rebuild and create what really matters and what people need and want.
Hats off to Brightline and to future growth and sucess. Show the Europeans and Asians that we too can build high speed comfortable trains and with our knowledge and skills even better ones than their trains
Joseph C. Markfelder
I’ve been an enthusiastic railfan for at least 60 years. BUT, I can say that what the people of this nation need and want is space travel. And like Brightline, that is being accomplishes effectively and efficiently by private companies such as SpaceX. When government gets out of the way and allows private companies to do what is needed, then it WILL see us get our “priorities in order” and we’ll see a passenger rail system as good as any on the planet. And those trains will take people to launch pads so that they can colonize space.
I live around this area (Orlando). This has me excited to say the least.
Meh. The record for diesel-electric is still 150 mph.
Zero – 130 Time? Lots of ballast dust. Needs some rainfall ?
Fresh ballast is always dusty. Even a 40 mph freight train will kick up dust on newly surfaced track.
And it looks cool.