ORLANDO — The plan for Brightline service from Orlando and Tampa is evolving into concept that would take advantage of federal infrastructure funding by extending SunRail commuter service to the Orlando Airport, the Orange County Convention Center, and the Disney World area. Brightline would would lease rights to use that trackage and build its own route from the Disney area to Tampa.
In a paywalled article, the Orlando Sentinel reports Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has hosted dozens of meeting between Brightline, Universal Studios — which would be served by the new plan, but not by the original Brightline proposal — and other interested parties to break a deadlock over the planned Brightline extension.
Dyer says the extension would be the beginning of an east-west route for the currently north-south SunRail, which serves 16 stations on a 49-mile route in four counties. Service to the airport would also require the commuter operator to increase frequencies, run later at night, and operate on weekends, he said. Currently, the Monday-through-Friday service operates on 30-minute headways during peak periods, and less frequently at other times. The new plan, called the “Sunshine Corridor Program,” would see trains every 15 minutes on the airport route.
U.S. Rep. Darren Soto (D-Kissimmee) said he has told the parties they must reach a decision by this summer to be in position to compete for federal funding: “Those first announcements for rail and for highways are going to be big ones, the biggest in the nation. We want to make sure there is consensus locally because it’s so competitive. If we don’t have consensus it’s going to be very difficult.”
Brightline spokeswoman Christine Kefauver said the plan is “the type of big vision project that Central Florida needs and one that will improve the quality of life for Central Floridians while ensuring an economic advantage for decades.”
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