Great video!! We visited the FLL/MIA area in July. Had an amazing dinner at Pirate Republic, which is at the exact location of the bridge you filmed yourself crossing! So cool to see, I remember seeing a Brightline train crossing while we ate!
Took the Brightline from my cruise in West Palm Beach to Orlando to my next cruise. Decided to try first class and it was a wonderful experience. Having been on about 40 Amtrak trains as well as 2 European trains, it definitely held its own. Highly recommend it to anyone. Looking forward to riding it again. Nice to see a fellow Ohioan(Cleveland). I will definitely subscribe to your channel.
I also had a great experience riding the bright line from Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach and it was pleasant. I also rode the bright line from Fort Lauderdale to Miami and it was also a beautiful experience. I cannot wait for the bright line to start from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. That should be opening in 2028. Hope you had fun.
This line looks a lot like Swedish main lines looked in 1990. A few limited 125 Mph segments among mostly older sections. The coastal stretch of rail will need to be upgraded for Brightline to be seriously competitive with flying. However I think they are fast enough to survive.
It's already competitive with flying in its current state. Total travel time of a flight from MCO to MIA is ~2 hours 40 minutes - 3 hours in itself compared to Brightline's 3 hour 25 minute timetable. -1 hour pre-arrival at airport -1 hour flight -15/20 minutes of deboarding -20 minutes at baggage claim if you have checked luggage -20 minutes to traverse from MIA eastwards into downtown Miami where Brightline Miami central is conveniently located. November saw 93,184 passengers to/from MCO. That's ~3,106 passengers per day (over 30 days). A typical American Airlines Airbus A320 seats 150 passengers (a Spirit Airlines A320 174 passengers) - so I'll just use 170. Some planes carry more (like Spirit’s 228 passenger A321) while others carry less (like AA’s 128 passenger A321). Delta’s 737-800 carries 160 people so 170 is more than fair. That means it would take ~18 (3,106÷170) Airbus A320s to handle what Brightline is carrying per day. Here's the number of flights provided by some of the big airline companies to/from MCO & S FL per day (non-stop flights). American Airlines: 14 (7 south, 7 north) Delta: 6 (3 south, 3 north) Spirit: 5 (2 south, 3 north) Southwest: 4 (2 south, 2 north) American Airlines, with the highest count of planes per day, couldn't handle Brightline's traffic. Delta, Southwest, and Spirit combined couldn't handle Brightline's traffic.
As a pasenger rail lover I can't say how excited I am to see this come to the U.S. and all the excitement and buzz around it. I can't wait to ride and these look like the best variant of the Siemens Venture/Charger trains so far, but the new Amtrak Airo trains and the new VIA Corridor trains in Canada look pretty amazing too. The Amtrak Airo's are supposed to debut on a number of corridor services including the Northeast Regional starting in 2026, although they haven't said which routes will get them first. I'm looking forward to the Tampa extension as well. I think getting Disney,? Universal and Tampa on the route will only make it more popular and make it easier for tourists and locals alike to have a high-quality way of getting around. I'm also looking forward to Brightline West which promises world-class speeds of 186mph on a fully-electrified dedicated grade-crossing free route between Las Vegas and Rancho Cuachamagno in the LA burbs. That route may even use a variant of the Siemen's Velaro, an Electric Multiple Unit high-speed trainset used for Germany's ICE trains and some of RENFE's AVE fleet in Spain. They hope to open that route as soon as 2028.
A lot of negative comments. 1 - this is an alternate option of travel not meant to replace what is currently used (plane, auto) 2. At least they aren't making weapons of destruction which is all America has done for over 2 decades which is one reason why the infrastructure in America stinks. Brightline is trying to make something progressive in our country.
a lot of people are ignorant, and dont understand that brightline has alot to take into account with rail authorities and the state + they need to share with freight trains.
Looking forward to trying it, but coming from Japan, it's going to be hard to compare, because I'm accustomed to REAL high speed rail shinkansens that travel at a steady 200 Mph.
This line is not High-Speed, for it to be high speed it would need to do 155mph for a lot of its journey. The distance from Orlando to Miami is 235 miles which takes 3 hours and 30 minutes, which if you do the math is 67mph, just because it does 125mph for a few miles does not make it a High-Speed train. The cost of $5 billion is not cheap but it should have been electrified and they should have built dozens of bridges and underpasses, instead of building it right it was built on the cheap to make as much money for as little outlay as possible. Sadly, it's the American way.
High speed rail starts at 125 MPH on legacy track, so while Brightline is not HSR because it does its 125 MPH on brand new track, it at least matches the threshold. An average speed of 69 MPH is still great. Lastly, you talk about "$5 billion is not cheap" but then casually throw out it should've been electrified and be grade separated. This would've added BILLIONS (far more than 5) to complete and likely wouldn't have been done in the first place given the ~3 previous attempts in Florida. Europe has plenty of legacy lines that are not grade separated with passenger trains running on them. So let us not pretend every train is a 186+MPH/300 KMH electrified variant in other parts of the world..
@@Ven100 That's why governments build railways, left to themselves private companies cut corners to save money and get a return on their outlay as soon as possible. The UK has dozens of 125 to 140-mph trains, but it only has one HSR, the Eurotunnel train that runs at 186mph.
70% occupant to date, some completely sold out. They are expanding the trains themselves. And you're comparing a comfortable train vrs Amtrak (which loses money) which often delayed because freight has priority/
While Brightline is certainly a good thing, to call it „highspeed“ is laughable for European Standards. A highspeed train would usually be running on Electricity and would not have any level crossings with regular car-traffic whatsoever. And real highspeed would require speeds way over 125 mph! And what also concerns me is that they have trains running with audible flat wheels! Maybe that was the reason the train didn‘t get to 125 mph at all…!
@@lalakerspro How fast does Acela go? On on how many miles on the route? Believe me, it‘s not true HSR if it has level crossings. At least not by European standards. Why are they building all those viaducts etc for HSR in California - because that‘s gonna be the first real HSR in the US.
@philipkudrna5643 the crossings part is nonsense. Acela does have crossings, but only 6 or 7 the whole route. Even CAHSR will have crossings, but it's still a High speed rail. Maybe not in the section with crossings, but overall still HSR
European standards has high speed rail start at 200 KMH/125 MPH just like the USA does. It just needs to be on upgraded legacy track and not the brand new section Brightline runs on. At 125 MPH, level crossings are not allowed in the USA - just like they aren't allowed in Europe. They are allowed at lower speeds and there a number of examples of passenger rolling stock (including HSR rolling stock) traversing level crossings at said lower speeds.
Stupid country? Guarantee its a lot better then Nepal. Rail development is slow because we have cars. Theres many countries outside the US that dont have have any rail at all. Wheres nepal high speed rail?
The fact that this train goes 125 MPH and became a household name is exactly why they got government funds to now build a 200 MPH train from SoCal to Vegas.
Good video Abbey - Your Enthusiasm is infectious
Are you going to do videos for Brightline LA to Las Vegas?
If it ever gets built lol...
Phenomenal Video! I just saw your vlog on my Recommended, its so nice to see folks exited about railroading! Hope to see more bright-line vlogs!
Great video!! We visited the FLL/MIA area in July. Had an amazing dinner at Pirate Republic, which is at the exact location of the bridge you filmed yourself crossing!
So cool to see, I remember seeing a Brightline train crossing while we ate!
No way!! That is too funny. I want to eat there too so I can watch the trains in real life 😂 thank you for watching!
Thank You!
Great video!
I did not know people had a favorite letter!
Took the Brightline from my cruise in West Palm Beach to Orlando to my next cruise. Decided to try first class and it was a wonderful experience. Having been on about 40 Amtrak trains as well as 2 European trains, it definitely held its own. Highly recommend it to anyone. Looking forward to riding it again. Nice to see a fellow Ohioan(Cleveland). I will definitely subscribe to your channel.
nice video. i might be hopping on that train. If you really love trains , visit Poland one day. There is many wonderful train paths to chose from
I also had a great experience riding the bright line from Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach and it was pleasant. I also rode the bright line from Fort Lauderdale to Miami and it was also a beautiful experience. I cannot wait for the bright line to start from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. That should be opening in 2028. Hope you had fun.
This line looks a lot like Swedish main lines looked in 1990.
A few limited 125 Mph segments among mostly older sections. The coastal stretch of rail will need to be upgraded for Brightline to be seriously competitive with flying. However I think they are fast enough to survive.
It's already competitive with flying in its current state.
Total travel time of a flight from MCO to MIA is ~2 hours 40 minutes - 3 hours in itself compared to Brightline's 3 hour 25 minute timetable.
-1 hour pre-arrival at airport
-1 hour flight
-15/20 minutes of deboarding
-20 minutes at baggage claim if you have checked luggage
-20 minutes to traverse from MIA eastwards into downtown Miami where Brightline Miami central is conveniently located.
November saw 93,184 passengers to/from MCO. That's ~3,106 passengers per day (over 30 days).
A typical American Airlines Airbus A320 seats 150 passengers (a Spirit Airlines A320 174 passengers) - so I'll just use 170. Some planes carry more (like Spirit’s 228 passenger A321) while others carry less (like AA’s 128 passenger A321). Delta’s 737-800 carries 160 people so 170 is more than fair. That means it would take ~18 (3,106÷170) Airbus A320s to handle what Brightline is carrying per day. Here's the number of flights provided by some of the big airline companies to/from MCO & S FL per day (non-stop flights).
American Airlines: 14 (7 south, 7 north)
Delta: 6 (3 south, 3 north)
Spirit: 5 (2 south, 3 north)
Southwest: 4 (2 south, 2 north)
American Airlines, with the highest count of planes per day, couldn't handle Brightline's traffic. Delta, Southwest, and Spirit combined couldn't handle Brightline's traffic.
Really enjoy your content might buy you a coffee
Thank you!! 🥰🥰
How bumpy was it?
Also, doesn't it take around the same amount of time as it would in a car from Orlando to Miami?
Brightline isn’t high speed all the way, it’s diesel, and has way too many crossings, long way to go, this line has so much unused potential…
125 mph is high speed in America. Brightline is high speed
As a pasenger rail lover I can't say how excited I am to see this come to the U.S. and all the excitement and buzz around it. I can't wait to ride and these look like the best variant of the Siemens Venture/Charger trains so far, but the new Amtrak Airo trains and the new VIA Corridor trains in Canada look pretty amazing too. The Amtrak Airo's are supposed to debut on a number of corridor services including the Northeast Regional starting in 2026, although they haven't said which routes will get them first. I'm looking forward to the Tampa extension as well. I think getting Disney,? Universal and Tampa on the route will only make it more popular and make it easier for tourists and locals alike to have a high-quality way of getting around. I'm also looking forward to Brightline West which promises world-class speeds of 186mph on a fully-electrified dedicated grade-crossing free route between Las Vegas and Rancho Cuachamagno in the LA burbs. That route may even use a variant of the Siemen's Velaro, an Electric Multiple Unit high-speed trainset used for Germany's ICE trains and some of RENFE's AVE fleet in Spain. They hope to open that route as soon as 2028.
A lot of negative comments. 1 - this is an alternate option of travel not meant to replace what is currently used (plane, auto) 2. At least they aren't making weapons of destruction which is all America has done for over 2 decades which is one reason why the infrastructure in America stinks. Brightline is trying to make something progressive in our country.
What do you mean by weapons of destruction? Trains are far more destructive than cars or planes
a lot of people are ignorant, and dont understand that brightline has alot to take into account with rail authorities and the state + they need to share with freight trains.
I’m taking it from Orlando to MIA for a cruise in a few days. Testing it out for cruise guests and will post the full procedure.
Looking forward to trying it, but coming from Japan, it's going to be hard to compare, because I'm accustomed to REAL high speed rail shinkansens that travel at a steady 200 Mph.
Where in orlando is the station? Airport if so we must take us there to the hotell
This line is not High-Speed, for it to be high speed it would need to do 155mph for a lot of its journey. The distance from Orlando to Miami is 235 miles which takes 3 hours and 30 minutes, which if you do the math is 67mph, just because it does 125mph for a few miles does not make it a High-Speed train. The cost of $5 billion is not cheap but it should have been electrified and they should have built dozens of bridges and underpasses, instead of building it right it was built on the cheap to make as much money for as little outlay as possible. Sadly, it's the American way.
High speed rail starts at 125 MPH on legacy track, so while Brightline is not HSR because it does its 125 MPH on brand new track, it at least matches the threshold. An average speed of 69 MPH is still great. Lastly, you talk about "$5 billion is not cheap" but then casually throw out it should've been electrified and be grade separated. This would've added BILLIONS (far more than 5) to complete and likely wouldn't have been done in the first place given the ~3 previous attempts in Florida. Europe has plenty of legacy lines that are not grade separated with passenger trains running on them. So let us not pretend every train is a 186+MPH/300 KMH electrified variant in other parts of the world..
@@Ven100 That's why governments build railways, left to themselves private companies cut corners to save money and get a return on their outlay as soon as possible. The UK has dozens of 125 to 140-mph trains, but it only has one HSR, the Eurotunnel train that runs at 186mph.
U should do long train ride. Say from Miami to the San Antonio or futher then that. That's up to u
Low key the wave expectally fir 27 dollar so I can get drunk af
Abbie, do you plan on checking out the transit systems of the Northeast Corridor and nearby. If you do, I'm willing to give you assistance. on SEPTA
Coming from Tik Tok. Let me say that I want to go on vacation watching some videos.
Its not high speed :(
Technically it's higher speed rail rather than HSR.
It’s high speed by US standards. Second fastest in the country topping out at 125mph.
I love trains but this will eventually fail, 79$ is ridiculous, NY to DC amtrak is 20$
70% occupant to date, some completely sold out. They are expanding the trains themselves. And you're comparing a comfortable train vrs Amtrak (which loses money) which often delayed because freight has priority/
While Brightline is certainly a good thing, to call it „highspeed“ is laughable for European Standards. A highspeed train would usually be running on Electricity and would not have any level crossings with regular car-traffic whatsoever. And real highspeed would require speeds way over 125 mph!
And what also concerns me is that they have trains running with audible flat wheels! Maybe that was the reason the train didn‘t get to 125 mph at all…!
The crossing and electricity have nothing do to with HSR. Acela is HSR and goes through crossings
@@lalakerspro How fast does Acela go? On on how many miles on the route? Believe me, it‘s not true HSR if it has level crossings. At least not by European standards. Why are they building all those viaducts etc for HSR in California - because that‘s gonna be the first real HSR in the US.
@philipkudrna5643 the crossings part is nonsense. Acela does have crossings, but only 6 or 7 the whole route.
Even CAHSR will have crossings, but it's still a High speed rail. Maybe not in the section with crossings, but overall still HSR
European standards has high speed rail start at 200 KMH/125 MPH just like the USA does. It just needs to be on upgraded legacy track and not the brand new section Brightline runs on. At 125 MPH, level crossings are not allowed in the USA - just like they aren't allowed in Europe. They are allowed at lower speeds and there a number of examples of passenger rolling stock (including HSR rolling stock) traversing level crossings at said lower speeds.
This thing should be going at 225 not 125, why the hell is rail development so slow in this stupid country?
Stupid country? Guarantee its a lot better then Nepal. Rail development is slow because we have cars. Theres many countries outside the US that dont have have any rail at all. Wheres nepal high speed rail?
Really? "Stupid Country?" Ya might wanna check your low-class ego! Which how many trains around the world travel at 225? I can think of only one.
The fact that this train goes 125 MPH and became a household name is exactly why they got government funds to now build a 200 MPH train from SoCal to Vegas.