what's being reported, and what's actually happening, are two different things. the entire operating department was fired, without notice. they were called into a meeting, and terminated. not furloughed, laid-off, etc. i'm currently training two of their road foremen, and their rules examiner, as well as a trainmaster on the property i'm at.
i suggested they were fired, as a means for them to be allowed to collect unemployment, although a kinder, more tactful way could have been used. the operating managers i have here, have been told that "we're all stood down, until we reach orlando". this means, until trains can actually operate all the way from miami to orlando airport, brightline is dead. at some point, they'll have to bring back a crew or two, just to operate test trains, but until then, all operating employees (t&e, mechanical, pax support, etc) are gone.
tri-rail continues to support the same corridor, with a larger amount of stations to serve the remaining commuters. the rfe's related to me, that the last two days of service saw 2-4 riders, per train. they had less than 200 total riders on the last day of service. this move "saves" the equipment until it's able to be used fully, and stops (to a degree) the operating losses that have been mounting. the actual number of people terminated is over 325, according to the rules examiner & rfe.
Traveling Engineer, Coast to Coast, Border to Border.
Any Train, Anytime, Anywhere.....