Brightline Stations on Miami-Orlando line

Jeff Smith wrote: ↑Tue Apr 06, 2021 9:04 am

Jeff Smith wrote: ↑Thu Feb 18, 2021 2:39 pm I haven't seen anything on Vero, just Boca.

Speaking of Boca: https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/new ... -this-year

The long-planned Brightline station for Boca Raton is getting closer to being built, with the project’s first phase of construction scheduled to start in March.

The pandemic led the rail line last year to stop running its trains, but that hasn’t halted plans to develop stations in Boca Raton, as well as in Aventura and at PortMiami.

In Boca Raton, the build-out of a planned $46 million station will start in March with the construction of a temporary parking lot and garden. The latest steps come more than a year after the Boca Raton City Council unanimously approved the new station in December 2019.
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Since that article was posted in January, this should mean that final phases of construction are currently underway and should likely be done sometime this year.

Highly doubtful, given they were still looking for final site approval as of 2/26:

https://www.wptv.com/lifestyle/travel/b ... ne-station

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews ... -complete/

Brightline’s Porritt confirms that the new station opposite the mall and parking facility at Aventura, south of Fort Lauderdale, is under construction, and tells News Wire that the community garden and parking garage for the new station at Boca Raton, “will begin in the next few weeks,” adding, “both stations are expected to become operational in 2022.” Plans for a station at PortMiami are still under negotiation, though details there have likely been affected by Brightline’s decision to sever its relationship with Richard Branson’s Virgin Group last year.

Has anything done about the proposal to add a Brightline station at the Miami cruise terminal? Or has it died?

I think in terms of a direct passenger rail service into Port of Miami, I think the market is not from Orlando International Airport, but from the Disney resorts west of Orlando. Until Brightline is able to open to Tampa (and assuming their plans for a Disney station do not get squashed by local opposition) I don't think the demand will be in place for that, and I'm not sure there would be demand even with that unless there are a lot of people who think a stay at Walt Disney World before or after a cruise is a desirable vacation.

As someone who has done a bit of cruising, a few days at Disney sounds exhausting. I can see doing one or the other, not both back to back.

Besides, there's a lot of competition between Tampa, Port Canaveral and Port Everglades. Heck, even Jacksonville has cruises now. Not much of a need to head to Miami for that type of an adventure.

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@RoamingRailfan on Twitter has photos of the first Brightline Siemans passenger gear pulling into the MCO intermodal terminal yesterday afternoon.

Feels like progress.

How did the train get there? I thought that Orlando / Orlando Airport was months away from being connected to the rest of the system.

photobug56 wrote: ↑Wed May 18, 2022 10:58 pm How did the train get there? I thought that Orlando / Orlando Airport was months away from being connected to the rest of the system.

The maintenance facility west of the airport is connected to CSX in Orlando so CSX has delivered trains there. There is a Roaming Railfan video about that first delivery.

photobug56 wrote: ↑Wed May 18, 2022 10:58 pm How did the train get there? I thought that Orlando / Orlando Airport was months away from being connected to the rest of the system.

It is amazing how much mis information gets spread. The maintenance facility was connected to the Orlando utilities commission (OUC)quite some time ago.

More on this:
https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/in ... o-station/

The Roaming Railfan's video of (and from) the train in the Orlando Airport station is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIUd_G4eWcM

Cocoa wants a station (old news): WESH.com

Officials, residents hoping to have Brightline station in Brevard County

“The potential of having a station in Cocoa would be phenomenal for us. It could really serve as a transportation hub that I think is really needed in this county,” said Samanth Senger with the city of Cocoa.

The city points to destinations nearby, like Port Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center, as to why a future station should be in the north of the county.

“Brevard has a lot to offer. I think what we need to do as a community is to see what we can do to help Brightline make that happen,” said State Rep. Thad Altman (R) Brevard District 32.
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No Vero: VeroNews.com

To no one’s surprise, Vero out of mix for a Brightline station

While Brightline has stirred up some excitement in St. Lucie and Martin counties with its plans to pick one as the site of a new Treasure Coast rail station, exclusion of Vero Beach from the RFP process for the new high-speed train stop comes as little surprise here.

Indian River County spent approximately $4 million unsuccessfully fighting to halt extension of the train from Palm Beach to Orlando through the county, finally ending its quixotic effort when Brightline agreed in June 2021 to install $31 million worth of additional safety improvements along the Florida East Coast Railway tracks here.

Brightline did not contact the City of Vero Beach regarding the RFP it issued for a Treasure Coast station, Vero Beach Public Works Director Matt Mitts confirmed Monday. “We inquired with Brightline two or so years ago and they were unresponsive to a discussion.”

“The community’s concerns have been vocal and well-documented, making the exclusion from the selection process a predictable outcome,” Dan Lamson, executive director of the Indian River Neighborhood Association, said Monday.
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