In May 2021, Brightline announced a major milestone, the company has passed the halfway mark for construction on its extension to Orlando.
Brightline, the only provider of modern, eco-friendly high-speed rail,
held the announcement at the future site for its vehicle maintenance facility just south of the Orlando International Airport.
The progress on Brightline’s VMF and 170-mile extension from West Palm Beach to OIA represent the company’s $4.2 billion-dollar private investment into the state of Florida.
Brightline executives, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings joined region-wide county and city officials, Central Florida government partners and community leaders who toured the new facility site and celebrated the major construction milestone.
Attendees marked the occasion by signing a 12-foot, bright yellow stick of steel rail.
The rail will be incorporated into Brightline’s track between the OIA station and the VMF as a sign of everlasting community support.
Once complete the corridor will connect South and Central Florida, making it one of the country’s largest and most significant privately financed infrastructure projects.
The project is expected to be complete by late 2022.
Brightline has over 1,000 construction workers on multiple sites for the 170-mile project with 48 bridges, 52,000 tons of steel rail, 1.4M square feet of retaining walls and six million cubic yards of earth embankment.
In total, Brightline’s high-speed rail network will create over 10,000 jobs and over $6.4 billion in economic impact over an eight-year period.
Brightline currently has operations and stations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.
The company currently has plans for additional stations in Boca Raton and Aventura, and discussions are underway with local stakeholders regarding expansion to Disney and Tampa.
Brightline will also bring its award-winning service to additional city pairs and congested corridors across the country that are too close to fly and too long to drive, with immediate plans to connect Las Vegas to Southern California.
Like, how Brightline plans to operate its service to Orlando, the tracks on the West Coast will run on existing transportation corridors.
Brightline is reinventing train travel in the U.S. with its high-speed rail system that generates a positive impact on jobs, the climate, and accessibility to transportation.
Upon completion, Florida will be home to some of the fastest, most efficient, and eco-friendly trains running in the United States.
Source: Brightline
Rod Washington Writer, filmmaker, model railroader, dreamer, posting videos and articles about trains. Also, posting railfanning videos and updates about his own model railroad layout via his webpage, the rail project (coming soon).
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