Brightline Florida has made a request for financing its Miami-Tampa High-speed Rail Extension project. The expansion would mainly follow the Interstate 4 corridor, extending Brightline’s existing South Florida route to cover about 320 miles from Miami to Tampa.
As for now, Brightline connects the cities of Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and Orlando. Additionally, the company offers shuttle service between airports and train stations. These services are usually for customers who book JetBlue Mint business class or core economy class tickets.
Brightline is the only privately managed intercity passenger railroad in America. In March of 2012 All Aboard Florida was first conceived by Florida East Coast Industries, which is a land development company based in the state of Florida that belongs to Fortress Investment Group. Construction started in November14 and the route opened for revenue service in January 2018, first between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach; then Miami to Fort Lauderdale segment began revenue service may of that year. Infill stations at Aventura and Boca Raton opened later that December, while the West Palm Beach to Orlando segment began revenue service in September 2023. More stops are being scheduled on the route
Also read: Construction of the Brightline West high speed California to Las Vegas rail to begin
Project Factsheet
Project name: Brightline Orlando to Tampa Extension
Operator: Brightline
Route: initially proposed to follow the Interstate 4 (I-4) corridor between Orlando and Tampa. The full Miami to Tampa route would be approximately 320 miles.
Estimated travel time (Orlando to Tampa): Approximately 1 hour
Cost
The proposed project, currently in its initial phase, is seeking up to $400 million in bond funding for construction.
The Florida Development Finance Corporation (FDFC), which is expected to provide the funding on the project, has scheduled a public hearing on July 17 at 2 p.m. that will be conducted through a telephone conference in order to receive feedback on approving the bonds needed for the extension.
What will the Funds be Utilized for?
The FDFC is expected to loan the bonds to Brightline so that they can pay for the “design, development, acquisition, construction” of the extension. This information was revealed by a notice on the FDFC website.
Upon completion, a single train trip from Orlando International to Tampa would take approximately an hour. It takes two hours to drive between the cities on I-4.
Significance of the Project
During 2024, Florida transportation officials stated that a high-speed train linking Tampa to Orlando was “important” due to the worsening traffic congestion on the interstate.
The update on the high-speed rail comes after a survey that was done earlier this year that examined how residents and commuters would react to the proposed expansion.
Also read: Hudson River rail tunnel project in New York, USA
