Brightline


Brightline is an intercity rail route, with some aspects of a commuter rail, in the United States that runs between Miami and Orlando, Florida. Part of the route runs on track owned and shared by the Florida East Coast Railway.
Brightline is the only privately owned and operated intercity passenger railroad in the United States. Its development started in March 2012 as All Aboard Florida by Florida East Coast Industries, a Floridian real estate developer owned by Fortress Investment Group. Construction began in November 2014 and the route began revenue service in January 2018, initially between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach; the Miami to Fort Lauderdale segment began revenue service in May of that year. Infill stations at Aventura and Boca Raton opened in December 2022, and the West Palm Beach to Orlando segment began revenue service in September 2023. Additional stops are being planned for the route.
Brightline's maximum operating speed is over a section between Orlando and Cocoa. Trains cover the route in 3 hours and 25 minutes, with an average speed of.

Origins and history

In 2012, All Aboard Florida, a wholly owned subsidiary of Florida East Coast Industries, announced plans to operate passenger rail service between Miami and Orlando. The construction was projected at the time to be $1.5 billion. In March 2013, All Aboard Florida applied for a $1.6 billion Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing loan, which was administered by the Federal Railroad Administration, and in late 2014, the company applied for a $1.75 billion private activity bond allocation, with proceeds from the bond sale substantially reducing or replacing entirely the amount of the RRIF loan request.
The company received a Finding of No Significant Impact from the Federal Railroad Administration in January 2013, effectively clearing way for work to begin between Miami and West Palm Beach. The Final Environmental Impact Statement was released on August 4, 2015. By the beginning of 2015, the company had started site work at the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach stations, plus right-of-way improvements along stretches of the corridor. On November 10, 2015, All Aboard Florida announced that the service would operate under the name Brightline.
Construction began on the Miami–West Palm Beach section with the laying of new tracks and closure of the temporary surface lots in Government Center, Downtown Miami, in mid-2014. Preliminary work on the Miami station, such as site preparation and demolition, began later in the year. Suffolk Construction was the general contractor for the Miami station. Piles were being set on the four lots of MiamiCentral in early 2015.
On October 29, 2014, work on the Fort Lauderdale station began with the demolition of existing buildings on the site. A groundbreaking ceremony for the West Palm Beach station was held in November 2014. Moss & Associates, of Fort Lauderdale, was the general contractor for the West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale stations.In January 2015, crews started replacing tracks throughout the corridor. All Aboard Florida secured leasing of easement rights alongside the Beachline from the Central Florida Expressway Authority for $1.4 million in December 2015.
Revenue service between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach began on January 13, 2018. Service between Miami and West Palm Beach, and between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, began on May 19, 2018. In September 2018, Brightline acquired XpressWest, a private company that intends to connect Las Vegas, Nevada with Southern California via Victorville, California. Brightline announced the intent of purchasing 38 acres of land near the Las Vegas Strip for a station and following the Interstate 15 corridor from Las Vegas to Southern California.
Two key counties on the coastal route north of the West Palm Beach station have, for various reasons, been fighting the extension of the rail line through Martin and Indian River Counties in court. One of their objections is that Brightline is owned by a private corporation, so they should not be allowed to issue tax-exempt bonds as if they were a municipality. On December 24, 2018, after four years of legal battles, a Federal District Judge threw out a suit by Indian River County that claimed the U.S. Department of Transportation improperly approved the bond allocation, clearing the way for construction of the new rail corridor through the Treasure Coast and Space Coast. On October 5, 2020, the US Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal of that decision, ending Indian River County's efforts to stymie development. The county's efforts at a Supreme Court hearing were financed with over $200,000 in private donations in addition to over $4 million in County funds.
In April 2019, the company secured $1.75 billion in funding for the Orlando extension and said construction would begin right away., the contractors on the project were the Hubbard Construction Company, Wharton-Smith Inc., The Middlesex Corporation, Granite, and HSR Constructors. These five contractors are responsible for the development of of new track into the completed state-of-the-art intermodal facility located in the new South Terminal at the Orlando International Airport.
Construction work on Phase 2, between West Palm Beach and Orlando, officially began in June 2019, with a groundbreaking ceremony at Orlando International Airport. Preliminary work on the corridor began in September 2019, in the area of Jensen Beach and Sebastian, and began path clearing for construction of the Orlando–Cocoa portion in October of that year.
In 2019, Brightline operations sent a letter to the city of Boca Raton about the possibility of adding their city as an infill station along the Florida route. Brightline proposed constructing the station and rail infrastructure while the city would cover access and zoning requirements and costs.
In October 2019, Miami-Dade County allocated $76 million to build a Brightline Aventura station by the Aventura Mall in Ojus, Florida, between Miami and Fort Lauderdale. At the time of the announcement, the projected opening date was October 2020. Groundbreaking on the station occurred in September 2020. On June 21, 2023, it was announced that construction was completed. In December 2019, the former community garden next to the Boca Raton Public Library was officially chosen as the site for the station.
Brightline crossed a key milestone in 2019, having transported over 1 million riders over the year. However, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it suspended operations on March 25, 2020. All train services ceased, and the company cut 250 jobs. Construction north to Orlando continued, as well as plans for the stations in Aventura and Boca Raton.
In January 2021, the company stated that service would begin again in "late 2021," contrary to their earlier estimate of the third quarter of 2021. The company said that most station and operations staff would be brought back approximately 30–60 days before services resumed. Throughout January 2021 and May 2021, the trains ran occasionally with no passengers, in order to test an upgraded corridor between the West Palm Beach and Miami train stations. Services resumed on November 8, 2021, between West Palm Beach and Miami.
The station in Boca Raton began service on December 21, 2022, while the station in Aventura began service on December 24, 2022. Revenue service between West Palm Beach and Orlando's International Airport Intermodal Terminal began on September 22, 2023.
In April 2024, Brightline recapitalized with a $3.2 billion bond issuance as part of a debt restructuring. This came as Brightline's operations cost $23 million more than revenue with quarterly losses more than doubled with losses widening to $116 million including interest in Q1 of 2024. The bond issuance was recognized as The Bond Buyer deal of the year.
The company posted a net loss of $549 million despite doubling revenue and booking 3 million trips in fiscal year 2024. Operational losses represented $153 million of those losses; Brightline has never turned an operational profit. However, the company had $5.8 billion in assets over more than $2 billion in debt.
In July 2025, due to continuing cash flow losses, Brightline's bond credit rating was cut to B from BB-plus by Fitch. Amidst financial challenges, it also deferred a July 15 interest payment on its 10% and 12% unrated tax-exempt bonds. However, a proposed $400 million bond to fund the proposed expansion to Tampa continued to move towards approval. In September 2025, the Department of Transportation delivered four new grants to upgrade safety on Brightline. The grants coincided with an expansion from 19 to 28 daily trips in Boca Raton.

Branding and naming rights

In November 2018, it was announced that Virgin Group would become a minority investor in the railroad and would provide rights to rebrand the service as Virgin Trains USA. However, in August 2020, railroad managers announced that Virgin had not provided the agreed investment money and the company would be ending its branding deal, returning to the previous Brightline brand. In March 2021, Virgin sued Brightline for $251.3 million because of the broken contract. In October 2023, Virgin won the lawsuit and the judge awarded Virgin $115 million in damages.
In June 2025, Brightline CFO Jeff Swiatek stated that the company was exploring selling naming rights or seeking a sponsorship deal to boost revenue.

Service

Route

The route is made up of the following stations, from north to south:
CountyStationBrightline
in-service date		Time to
Connections
OrangeSeptember 22, 2023210 Orlando International Airport
Lynx: 11, 42, 51, 111, 311, 407, 436S
SunRail Train to Plane: Link 111 Nonstop Express
Palm BeachJanuary 13, 201872 Palm Tran: 1, 40, 41, The Bolt 1
Palm Trolley: Yellow Line
Tri-Rail Commuter Connector: WPB-1
Palm BeachDecember 21, 202251 Palm Tran: 1, 94
BrowardJanuary 13, 201830 Broward County Transit: 1, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 20, 22, 30, 31, 40, 50, 60, 81, 101
Sun Trolley: Downtown Link, Neighborhood Link, NW Community Link
Tri-Rail Commuter Connector: FL-1, FL-3
Miami-DadeDecember 24, 202217 Metrobus
Broward County Transit: 1, 28, 101
Miami-DadeMay 19, 2018 Metrorail: Green Line, Orange Line, 120, 207, 208, 246, 277, 500
Broward County Transit: 109, 110
Miami Trolley: Coral Way
Tri-Rail