ORLANDO, Fla. — A Brightline train has arrived in Orlando for the first time.
The new “Bright Blue 2” trainset was delivered to the passenger operator’s Vehicle Maintenance Facility, nearing completion. The facility is near Orlando International Airport, the northern terminus for the extension of service planned in 2023.
“To see these trains begin to arrive is just so exciting,” said Michael Cegelis, Brightline executive vice president, development and construction. “It spurs us on through that last 30% of construction we have to complete.”
Eventually, there will be 10 of the trainsets built at Siemens’ Sacramento, Calif., factory operating between Orlando and Miami.
Could CSX have provided a clean(er) engine?
Or maybe the well used engine on the front allows the new trainset to shine!
Subsurface “muck”…In other words wetlands?
Not the same thing. Muck is a layer of rotting vegetation below the surface that’s been rotting there for centuries. It’s smelly, it’s a fire hazard; and worst of all, it has very poor load bearing capacity. In most cases the muck has to be removed and replaced with clean, dry fill with the necessary load bearing and compaction characteristics.
I think this a direct delivery from Siemens in Sacramento.
To all who are asking why the CSX engine is pulling in the Brightline consist. The rail between the Orlando Utilities branch line back to Cocoa is not complete yet. So any work trains or service trains have to come in via the CSX Stanton Spur.
Now lets get SunRail into the station. That goal should have been realized to coincide with the Brightline startup. I live in the area and would make a trip to Miami so convenient. Now SunRail to a bus at Sand Lake Rd.
Required to be “dead-in-tow” by Class 1’s.
Just curious – Why couldn’t the Brightline trainset come into the Orlando facility under its own power?
Likely cheaper to move it as freight by the host railroads, remember that train crews have to be qualified for routes and equipment.
What host railroad, besides FEC, Brightline’s home road? Perhaps part of the route at present, to get to the Orlando portion, is over CSX? As to qualification, do you mean that the CSX crew here might have moved construction equipment over this route, and was thus “qualified?”