Could Brightline be a model for high-speed rail in U.S.?
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- A rail line linking two popular Thanksgiving destinations, Miami and Orlando, is giving Florida it's first taste of the potential for how high-speed rail could change holiday travel. CBS News' Kris Van Cleave took a ride inside Brightline, the first privately-owned, multi-city railroad in the country.
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I would definitely take this train over flying any day. Much more comfortable, less stressful and hassled, and would even be cheaper than flying. The only reason I fly is because there isn’t anything like this linking my hometown with where I currently live
This is exactly why i say trains can work extremely well in florida. Just looking at how much time is cut when taking florida's turnpikes is pretty significant. Often wondering just how did it shave off so much time from the normal highway routes. Trains would double down of such time saving with more direct routes. And to make them relatively high speed. Its just like up north in the NY region down to say.. DC. the train does the trip incredibly fast, so much that people actually commute back and forth to work daily from opposing states. AMAZING. I say, a route from tampa to orlando, to ft lauderdale and miami with secondary routes serving those 'near by regions; would see a great shift in trave for floridians.
To all americans who love their cars, and prefer it, no matter the traffic, we won’t replace your cars with trains, we simply wanna save the climate, reduce congestion, which will also benefit you, and also give all the people who don’t wanna drive an alternative option, which will also reduce congestion at airports.
@ncard00 THANK YOU, thanks for saying that. Most other one saying like they want to ban cars, want to stop car enthusiasts. But that not the case thank you
@@kingkoopa64banning cars is stupid. But reducing cars in cities makes sense.
@@ncard00 Yes, also reducing the people that have poor vision that are might drive if they didn’t have an alternative or people that have to take medicine and shouldn’t be driving, but still want to visit friends and relatives, such as taking the train from Orlando to Miami.
I took Brightline for the first time from Orlando last week. Really smooth and I enjoyed it. I’m taking it again next month, but to a different city Fort Lauderdale. !!!!!
Transit expert here. Some regional trains could follow Brightline's regional model where 125 mph service connects 2 or more kind of close places. This would work in the Albany-Buffalo area, Colorado, North Carolina, and the Midwest. Most places could use long distance and regional France-standard high speed rail (where a big network covers the populated areas of the country) but this is a good start. Privately run as well! Another thing to consider
MARC runs at 125mph for instance.
Or Chicago - Buffalo, Chicago - Milwaukee - Minneapolis, Chicago - Kansas city, Boston - Albany - NYC, Virgina,
Remember….In the comment section….we’re all experts here! No need to announce it!
@@chooch1995 yet people dont look at criticisms to see if they are even valid and just go "mhmm yea, HSR bad"
@@stevenstrain283 turn the current level crossings into underpasses, and make fences for protecting the tracks near residential areas
It's not really HSR.... its almost HSR, but it's a great start. This needs to connect every city.
If Brightline West proves the concept of running high speed rail tracks down the median of interstates, that’ll open up a number of city pair corridors that can use that same method.
@@ChrisJones-gx7fcWhat a beautiful reply. The future is bright be it electric high speed or diesel semi-high speed.
Yeah there's already Amtrak going faster than this
@@beback_Only between DC and NYC by a marginal 3-4 mph higher average speed. Brightline is the nation's fastest average speed train outside of that specific NEC segment. Faster average speed than the Lincoln, Wolverine, and Keystone routes also.
Who cares, there was no passenger train before, there is now. And it’s a different world now after 2020, so even Amtrak’s old service running 7+ hours from LA to Vegas would be a huge success today, cause people have internet, many care about the environment, and congestion is the worst it’s ever been.
They said it best - once Americans see how nice of an experience high-speed rail is, demand will come. Would love to see Brightline extend their Florida operation up the East coast to a city like Atlanta or Savannah and reach 220mph speeds in the truly rural areas
Atlanta and Savannah are cities Brightline has already expressed interest about, so it’s coming. And Brightline will eventually grade seperated, electrify, and speed upgrade the Florida lines, they just wanted to get the trains running asap, and upgrade later, cause it was cheaper, faster, and easier.
Too bad you need an arm and a leg to ride it.
@@RS-xb9loso? you can walk to your car alright.
@@gamerfan8445 The problem is that the cost for tickets is $50+. That immediately defeats the purpose of the transit system, because the only people who would be able to use it is infrequent travel, rather than what is desperately needed: daily alternatives to car travel for disabled and non-disabled people alike. The price tag makes it infeasible to use this for frequent travel.
@@RS-xb9lo I just bought last week the $39 November special for Brightline and traveled from Orlando for the first time! Wonderful smooth I’m doing it again next month but then to Fort Lauderdale !!!!!!
There are several existing rail corridors that badly need upgrades such as the Cascades corridor between Portland and Seattle which could be upgraded for 90 mph fairly easily by straightening out curves and replacing some old bridges
If I could ride a modern train like the Brightline ones from Seattle to Portland (or on to Eugene) and maybe up to Vancouver, BC, I would be so happy. I take the Amtrak but it takes way longer than it should. I feel like the old trains just aren't very efficient. That being said, I love traveling by train and I don't own a car, so give me more transit options!
@@EricaGamet they are getting the same train cars as brightline in a few years but they need to upgrade the track for higher speeds
@@EricaGamet I took the Cascades last November ('22) and it was already being powered by a Siemens Charger (SC44) although it was still using Amfleets. All of those are rated for 125 MPH, so the limiting factor is definitely the infrastructure, not the train.
@@Ven100 I'm a big fan of riding the train (and transit in general) but really couldn't give a hoot on equipment, what the fastest speed it, etc. Not to say there is anything wrong with being into it... I watch a lot of train/transit channels and sometimes they get really deep in the weeds about it all. All I know is that the customer experience from getting on the train, the stupid amount of time it often takes to get anywhere, and what seem like operational efficiencies make a less-than-optimum travel experience. That being said, I'm glad we have something and hope that in the future it just gets better and more common and popular.
Japan: we have a proven model what’s wrong with you people?
I'm going to let the "speed people" argue/complain over the speed. The important takeaway is that Brightline has got more people talking about rail. They offer clean, comfortable, frequent, reliable hourly service. It offers a time that's more than competitive with driving and even flying (when looking at total travel times). Good rail projects tend to raise the tide on all/future rail projects.
Agreed. Even though I have my fair share of issues with Brightline, it is undeniably a big step forwards for passenger rail in America, and we absolutely need more things like it
Hopefully there will be the proper available funding necessary to facilitate many future passenger rail projects be it high speed or semi-high speed.
Most importantly, they have given people the freedom to choose a climate friendly alternative, that also doesn’t involve putting your life at risk every day driving your car on the road. Even train stations with loads of parking, or trains going to airports is a great start for the US, it also took decades and decades for Europa and Asia to get high speed rail, and lastly, the US was built with trains, not cars.
@@ncard00the thing is that Europe and Asia already have the infrastructure before high speed rail. We just got rid of it.
Amtrak runs so late can’t make other connections
We need it here in Texas!
Search up Texas Central! They have a plan in coordination with Amtrak to run a Japanese Shinkansen high speed train between Dallas and Houston, with potential future expansions including San Antonio, Austin, and Fort Worth.
@@pizzajona it's dead...for now... hopefully it comes back around again...some version of that project has been trying to get off the ground for almost 40 yrs now...
They keep on killing it every time it has a chance. Thanks to NIMBYs and Southwest Airlines.
Brightline and Amtrak have already expressed interest in the Texas triangle, so it will be built sooner or later.
Going to pay for it
China and Europe even Russia is at least 40 years ahead of America in train travel
A big problem is that most of our track is owned by private freight railroads that maintain their track to very low standards limiting speed and they also refuse to put up overhead wires to supply power
*passenger train travel
China has overbuilt. But the US can match Europe quickly if they put their mind to it and get out of their current car-only mentality which is slowly happening.
@@beback_don’t think so, China is smart to build a complete HSR system when the building cost is still relatively low.
And Japan is ahead also of the United States and train travel !!!
Brightline is a model for rail, but not high speed rail. Their corridor in Florida is not high-speed, it’s higher-speed. To get high-speed (150+ mph on a new line), you need an electric train powered by overhead wires, not diesel.
Brightline may actually become high speed rail by the end of this decade when their planned true high speed rail line between Las Vegas and an LA suburb. That line will be electric and run at a max speed of 186 mph. (The CEO says in this interview it will run over 200 mph but I haven’t seen that number mentioned anywhere before today.)
200 MPH started floating around when wind about them looking at the Siemens Velaro Novo began circulating. Brightline's website says "186+". Brightline knows marketing and knows 200 MPH sounds better than "186". They'll definitely want the train to hit those speeds for bragging rights.
If I was Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Apple, and so on, I’d invest in Brightline right now, or even just give them money to build more high speed rail, without seeing any return on the investment, cause the US economy would skyrocket so much with a nationwide Brightline system, at least linking the profitable city pairs, and when the economy is good, that’s good for buisness for the big tech companies. After people have experienced high speed rail all over the country, they will start asking for more, and Amtrak will get even more funding for all the important, but non profitable routes.
We need Brightline in Texas from Dallas to Houston through Austin
Need this in every state and add large sleeper cars
Sleeper cars for 200 mile trips?
Not for Day trains
Good news!
Texas and California both have high speed rail lines proposed or actively under construction. Virginia has and is currently massively expanding its rail service. Chicago to St. Louis was recently updated to 110 mph and train lines in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and upstate New York also operate at those speeds. Lastly, there is great rail service between DC and Boston in the northeast corridor. And Amtrak is ordering new trains and making track improvements to run more trains even faster!
Regarding sleeper cars, Amtrak is also procuring new modern sleeper cars for its long distance routes.
I hope they don’t get rid of the comfy seats, though. Their newer cars on some routes have thinner seats that I’ve heard don’t compare well with the big plush ones.
This is not HSR but it's good to see a relatively speedy (edit - and more importantly, a frequent and consistent) inter-city/ inter-region rail service...
Comparing this to high speed rail is like comparing a B787 to the Concord and then asking why is the Concord not as cheap to buy and run as the B787...
@user-rl7mt4gh3o no one has that...well maybe in China but most of their system was built as a economic driver and not really for need.
In most of the EU you have disjoined systems that have one or 2 points of connection in a few places...you currently can't take a HSR only trip from say Portugal to Poland...which is the equivalent of saying you need one from CA to Maine, 🤷🏾♂️
@user-rl7mt4gh3oAs an American did you miss English class that day?
Slight adjustment to the 787 v Concorde comparison : only in first world English speaking countries does true HSR can be compared to Concorde for costs.
That's the main issue in USA, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand : outrageously inflated cost of infrastructure. Absolutely unjustified and unjustifiable amounts, when everyone can witness that some developed countries with high tax rates and high energy costs manage to build 200 miles of 220mph rated double tracks with all environmental bells and whistles you could think of for substantially less than 10 billions.
And then on the other side there's HS2 and CAHSR costing more than 100 billions each for only a fraction of their planned routes.
Across the pond in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, etc. It only costs a fraction of what it costs in the US.
Since we're making aircraft analogies : it's 787 for the infrastructure costs, Concorde for the speeds, A321XLR for energy efficiency and A380 for capacity and comfort. 😂
And then sprinkle some low-cost operators and / or regular competitors to bring tickets prices down.
The primary issue to solve is the cost. After that, projects will be much easier to launch. Even the die hard rail opponents will be too shocked by the "normal" cost to oppose anything anymore.
@@KyrilPGTo solve the root cause of the cost use self-replicating robotic automation 24/7.
1:30 The difference is that CA HSR is going to be much faster than the Brightline currently is.
Yep it will be by far the fastest train in the western hemisphere and it's also going to be fully Electrified at 25,000 Volts 60 Hertz AC all of that means that it requires vastly more infrastructure and Electrification of the Existing Commuter Rail lines
And the commuter rail line is about ready to begin electrified service with time savings of up to 25 minutes from San Jose to San Francisco and more frequency.
I am excited for CAHSR, but it is far off from connecting LA and SF. It was briefly mentioned in this video, but Brightline using existing rights of way helps so much in expediting the process and making it cheaper. It also doesn’t help CAHSR that there are lots of people where they’re building their right of way and that California has insane abuse of environmental laws that those people can use to delay the project, making it pricier. Brightline’s most important lesson is using existing rights of way to quicken the permitting process.
Even if you completely ignore the speed, CAHSR is a far more ambitious and complex project than Brightline due to it being completely grade separated and building an all-new right of way for much of its track, forcing it to deal with more issues related to land acquisition and environmental concerns (and naturally opens it up to a lot more lawsuits by people opposing the project).
By comparison, Brightline is much slower to where it can't even be considered HSR, and the entire track uses existing rights of way - in fact, there's only 30 miles of new track (this also happens to be the only part where it hits 125mph), and the rest of the line uses either existing or upgraded track owned by freight rail.
CAHSR could have also gone the Brightline route of using the existing I-5 corridor, in which case it would have been built a lot faster for less money, but you'd end up with a far less useful train line that would completely ignore the Central Valley region (which has more people than most of the states in the country) in favor of only serving the two coastal areas of SF/LA
In spite of this, Brightline is still a great service and CAHSR has its own fair share of problems, but comparing the two is like comparing a duplo set to a Lego Death Star. Even Brightilne West is nowhere near as complex or ambitious as CAHSR with how many corners its cut
True. Technically, you could say that California has essentially had Brightline style service, just less shiny and frequent since at least the 90s
I'm shocked the America has taken this long, decades late to embrace HS rail. About damn time.
I soo need more train transportations in the USA in the future
We’ve had the Acela for almost 25 years now.
@@RandomNonsense1985 I'm talking country wide, and not just a few cities,🤒
It's the fault of the airline lobby. They are the ones that have the most to gain by killing HSR, and they have been doing so for decades.
It's really not that shocking, sadly. Our government spent stupid amounts of money on foreign aid and wars for all those decades rather than investing back home.
Brightline is NOT hsr.
Give Amtrak priority over cargo and increase on time arrivals and rail would double in usage minimum but like the post office we can't have government do well in America
There's actually already a law that gives Amtrak priority over freight rail, it's just unfortunately never enforced
@@Chario_ Exactly... that needs to be remedied.
Or just build double track on all lines, or even double track at stations only, whatever Amtrak can gain support for.
@@ncard00 yeah double tracking every mile not possible but a few miles that would allow you to get around a parked freight train
@@marcusrose5943 most lines have segments where a train can briefly stop to keep another train pass. The problem is that freight trains are so long nowadays that they can't fit into those waiting areas, so it would be impossible for the freight trains to let passenger trains pass, even if they wanted to
I hate flying and driving long distances is sooooo tedious and boring. We need mutiple train routes like this throughout florida and in most states. Would decrease highway and airport traffic and would make life so much easier.
I don’t mind flying, but I hate driving medium to long distances so last week I took the Brightline from Orlando to West Palm and really enjoyed it, so smooth, and some of the ride was just the back of buildings other times it was really pretty countryside or the bay and interesting painted houses of Florida colors.
Yeah, give people options, and save the planet.
So, brightline runs along the beach line express. The infrastructure is gorgeous so first class.
Brightline is no doubt one of the fastest trains in America, with a top speed that’s only exceeded by the Acela on the NE Corridor, but by the widely-accepted global definition of high speed rail, Brightline is not. That definition classifies high speed rail as greater than 125 mph on upgraded existing tracks, and over 155 mph on new tracks. That said, any new passenger rail in the US is a good thing if it means fewer cars on the freeways, especially one with the level of service they offer compared to the currently only other intercity rail alternative, Amtrak.
As for Brightline West, that will hit a projected top speed of 186 mph and will for sure be high speed rail, but it won’t hit it for much of its journey, averaging a little over 100 mph between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga, a distance of 218 miles, with a projected trip time of 2 hours 10 minutes. California HSR meanwhile is building true high speed rail, with a top speed of 220 mph and an average of 166 mph on its projected 2 hour 39 minute nonstop trip time between LA Union Station and SF’s Salesforce Transit Center (for comparison, the fastest Beijing-Shanghai HSR service averages 181.4 mph).
Both Brightline West and CAHSR are working to bring high speed rail here, as are other proposed HSR projects around the country. America having world-class high speed rail is a matter of when, not if, and the first trains will begin rolling by the end of this decade.
Actually the Northeast Regional which parallels the Acela is about as fast it's a similar story for the Keystone corridor
@@IndustrialParrot2816 NE Regional and Keystone both top 125 mph, same as Brightline. I said that only the Acela exceeds that. CAHSR and Brightline West both will too when they start running trains in the next 5-10 years.
@@ChrisJones-gx7fc CAHSR will be to only one to break 200 mph
@@IndustrialParrot2816 oh I’m very much aware. It’ll be interesting comparing Brightline West’s model to CAHSR’s, not just the overall price tag but also the level of service.
@@ChrisJones-gx7fc yes but we already know that Brightline west is going for a leaner operation with sort of bare minimum for true HSR whereas CAHSR is going in pretty much the opposite direction going for maximum service levels with statewide integration
Brightline should be consider as Mid Speed Rail
It is HrSR...
@@StefanWithTrains3222 Higher Speed Rail sounds like it's great than High Speed Rail. Mid Speed Rail sounds more accurate.
@@orlandoracer407 the is actually the worst reason ever to call it Mid Speed Rail. Higher means that it is not full High but faster then normal. You can't compare the name Mid that easily with other names, so HrSR is more logical.
@@StefanWithTrains3222 Probably in rail terms. As an adjective. Higher is greater than high.
Brightline in Florida isn't a model for high speed rail because it isn't high speed rail, it's a traditional diesel train running on a traditional rail line at fairly traditional speeds, which is why it got built so easily. California HSR on the other hand, or the proposed LA-Vegas line, will be a great model for building true high speed rail in the US, and will provide a lot of institutional knowledge for how to get future projects done faster and cheaper.
Brightline’s model is faster and cheaper, cause they use existing highway mediums, instead of grade seperating and going in a straight line like CAHSR, why they have succeeded, and CAHSR hasn’t.
Which millions spent and not running
Beg to diiffer. Brightline is anything but a traditional diesel passenger train when compared to any current passenger diesel rail service on an average speed basis and it is even close in average speed (81 mph) to the electrified Acela from NYC-DC. No other rail line has 125 mph class 7 track outside of the NEC that I am aware of.
Conventional or traditional national Amtrak routes average 40-55 mph (Lincoln 56-60 mph) while Brightline averages 69 mph overall and 77 mph from West Palm to Orlando. Those are semi-high speeds, higher and faster than the usual.
@@ncard00 CAHSR isn't a failure, it's just still under active construction. The issue with Brightline's model of using at-grade rail that follows highways, aside from making it the deadliest train per mile in America, is that it isn't conducive to high speed. True high speed rail needs to travel in straight lines with no interruptions, which does take more time and resources to implement but is also 2+ times faster, significantly safer, and runs on electricity instead of fossil fuels.
@@tomhenry897 True high speed rail has never been built in America, so the costs are inevitably going to be higher to do it for the first time. But there's a pretty broad consensus that it's well worth the investment. When CAHSR is up and running, you'll be able to travel from San Diego to San Francisco faster than Brightline can get from Miami to Orlando.
I love trains! I want to see more love put into them!
Please up the video quality to 4K :)
This is really cool. Its gonna be awesome.
I think that a good option would be to link the national Parks together by rail
For HSR, absolutely not. From the lack of grade separation, to the fact that it shares its right of way with freight, to the fact that it uses slower diesel locomotives instead of EMUs or Electric Power Cars, and the fact that it doesn’t even reach HSR speeds (it only maxes out at 125mph which is considered Higher Speed Intercity Rail like the Northeast Regional and is slower than the Acela). That being said, in terms of higher speed and intercity rail, Brightline is an excellent model in terms of speed, comfort, frequency, construction, and design as it does so much right in these aspects, allowing for a high quality, service on par with the rest of the world. That being said Brightline is still not perfect and has a number of flaws in terms of infrastructure and service. In terms of infrastructure this includes the lack of grade separation and electrification previously stated as well as the lower speeds of the FEC south of Cocoa and especially south of West Palm Beach. Service wise Brightline mainly suffers due to its airline style service using headcounts and security which in turn deincentivizes passengers, good lack of public transit & connections (which is admittedly a problem across the US not just Brightline), its premium fare which makes it a less viable option for many and decreases its reach as a public service , and the fact that it’s privately operated which in turn means that it will always prioritize what makes money as opposed to what serves the general public. As such while there is alot to learn from the success of Brightline, it is important to take a grain of salt and avoid the issues that harm the service. Still Brightline is an excellent service, and I hope for the services future prosperity and growth for years to come.
Brightline is not high-speed rail. Acela is still faster than it and it's been around for decades. CAHSR is the only true high-speed rail that is being built in the country.
Yes but Brightline West, which just got permission to construct, will also be true HSR.
@@pizzajona If fully Funded. The Aclea will only be 20-30mph slower. At 160mph.
@@thetrainguy1But the average speed for the Acela is way slower, and that's what matters.
@@pizzajona Yep, but it has not started construction yet. I hope that Brightline gets the money soon to start construction.
We need this!!! So many amazing potential connections around the USA!!!
I believe the Brightline model would be the greatest first step we could take in implementing high speed rail. Barely any new lines would need to be built, most existing lines and stations can be used and upgraded, and if a certain routing or service fails then it won’t be billions in debt from construction costs. The Swedes implemented good cross-regional / cross-country 130 mph services, without building a single new mile of track, and no one complained. So why can’t we?
One big difference between Europe and the US is that here all the rail lines are heavily used by freight. About 85% of trains are freight trains, vs about 85% passenger in Europe. Europe uses trucks way more than the US. Because the freight companies already own and operate the rails, it's hard to just throw passenger trains onto these same lines.
Love how brightline finished two phases while California is still on the same thing
Well to be fair CA is doing a brand new right of way for the most part and with much higher speeds and of course it's going to be electrified. Brightline on the other hand just used the FEC right of way and did ~20 miles of single track. So can't blame CA here for taking so long. The CA project should have been federally managed and funded due to it's sheer scale.
Yeah, going in a straight line above everything doesn't work in the US, just build along the highways like Brightline.
A few things:
1. Brightline IS NOT high speed rail, its HIGHER speed rail, which means its faster than conventional rail, but still not near the speeds of actual high speed rail.
2. Saying Brightline should be a model for high-speed rail in the U.S. is very flawed, mainly because Brightline runs diesel instead of electric, a majority of the track is on a freight right of way, and the amount of grade crossings on Brightline are real problems
3. This video seems to ignore a lot of Amtrak routes that are already classified as higher speed rail, and no I am not talking about the northeast corridor routes. An example of a higher speed rail route running outside of NEC is the Lincoln Service which runs from Chicago to St. Louis, which quite recently got a massive upgrade making it faster and much more reliable. One other higher speed rail route is the Keystone Corridor, which also has segments of track upgraded to 110 mph.
Also just to clarify, I am not saying Brightline is bad, however I don't think it should be used as the "model" for future high speed rail. I'd say for a true example of high speed rail in the U.S. its best to look at countries with already solid high speed rail lines in the first place and honestly the Acela Express would serve as a better example than Brightline, although that is not to say the Acela has its own problems.
Diesel is cost effective on routes up to 250-350 miles when the track allows an average speeds of 56-69-77 mph such as Brightline. Brightline average speeds are close to the 61-71-81 mph average speed segments of the Acela route. The average speed of the Lincoln is 60 mph and the Wolverine is 53 mph on class six tracks and both may have more station stops than Brightline. Both have 6 daily trains vs 16 for Brightline. The Keystone is in that same range perhaps. Brightline is faster semi-high speed rail because of a long class six 165 mile non-stop segment and some class seven track.
Imagine this going to Tampa and then Jacksonville. A railway that links all of Florida's big cities. That's the model US needs to follow. In time upgrade the tracks, curves and signalling to improve speed.
We need more trains - they are fun and highly efficient
And Brightline’s trains use Starlink sattelite based Wifi, as the only trains in the world, providing the best train Wifi ever achieved, that’s an easy way for the US to improve their slow trains, cause it’s really cheap to install and pay for, compared to the benefits it will provide passengers.
Rail in florida can be really big, only if the stations offer car rental and further public transportation and or ride sharing/taxi/uber type offerings. Florida is rural by design, so even if your in one of its cities, to truly get around you need personal transportation, a car, as locations are divided by highways and are that of large distances. Even standard public transportation such as buses do not typically fare well in longer commutes as their numbers in operation must be very large to offset long waits at bus-stops.
They do have final mile Uber-style transit offerings, or at least did offer them
@@tylerkochman1007 yeah, thats the only way its going to work. such places are too vast, as they were never built up for walking.
As a Florida native who has also experienced living in the Northeast where transit is popular, Here’s the difference I see. People in Florida have always viewed train travel just like bus travel a last resort for the indigent. All one has to do is look at the prices of bright line and you’ll see that’s not the case anymore. It appears that view is changing considering how congested our interstates are. The areas where bright line goes are very crowded and rideshare and transportation options are available at the stations. If rental car is not there at the stations, it is likely only blocks away. I actually just went to Hollywood in South Florida and I saw no need for a car unless I was going to travel far away while I was down there.
The stations are not rural, they are all urban or relatively dense (for Florida) suburban except for the Orlando airport station. And almost all the stations have or will be getting dense housing and offices nearby.
or if ticket prices were lower
Fun fact: Brightline is getting to build a 186 MPH/299 KMH High speed line from vegas to Rancho Cucamonga. With connections with metro link to take passenger to Downtown LA.
Imagine the jobs it can create
Or by being here imagine the jobs it can help create
Could be benifical to rural america and help create much needed job give a men a boot
125mph (top speed, not average speed) is NOT high speed rail. Trains in Japan moving at 260mph.
Private versus public, no fair, no comparison.
@@ncard00 the point is, stop calling it high speed rail to sell it politically to constituents, because that is a lie. You can already travel 120+ places on amtrak... the issue is the congestion, where all the riders are, requires the train to operate at a much lower speed due to regulations and restrictions.
Im glad see orlando and miami connecting someday i will take that when i get back to US
As someone who envies public transport around the world, I appreciate that the Brightline founder recognizes that the Florida Brightline corridor is NOT true high speed rail. I can regularly make the drive between miami and orlando in just about 3ish hours. The station being at MCO really removes any locals who are paying their own way and was a stupid decision. I still need to drive or use rideshare to get to the airport and park. The train is not fast enough and too expensive.
My biggest issue with BL is the last thing you said, too expensive and that's an understatement. How can a local justify going to ORL when prices vary from $79-119 per person and is for a one-way ticket? At the bottom end you're looking at about $160 for a round trip and like you said, you'd still need to rely on rideshare or renting a car once you get to your destination. Even within SFL the price from MIA to WPB is too high, $34-39 for a one-way on the weekend isn't very appealing, and looking at their website those $15 tickets are only for the very early trips, all others are $24.
Actually, I get from Orlando to the airport by the two dollar local bus
@@tonymagona334 I bought a November special for $39 from Orlando and used it last week and now they’re showing Black Friday specials for 59 for Orlando.
I really enjoyed my ride last week and explored a new city for me and a museum !
Brightline is just not high speed rail, stop calling it that!
If nothing else this shows that we need another train operator besides Amtrak. We have many airline companies. How about many train companies in the USA?
Yeah but Amtrak is technically a public nationalized company it would be able to run way better service if it was in control of the national railroad network
What we really need is to make it so Amtrak can for e freight railroads to cooperate
Cause passenger rail isn’t profitable, but then neither is air travel (or freeways for that matter, but that’s another subject). Airlines are subsidized so, among other things, they can keep their prices reasonable for travelers. If US passenger rail subsidized private companies, incentivizing them to run certain routes, then we probably could have multiple passenger rail companies besides Amtrak.
The other thing is the rail infrastructure. Unlike air space, where planes have lots of room to roam on their flight paths, rails only go certain places and for much of them between cities are single track, limiting capacity, not to mention most of them are privately owned by the freight railroads who although they’re supposed to give priority to passenger trains aren’t ever enforced to. The US rail network from its inception was built to move freight, and that for the most part remains the case today. The US government formed Amtrak in 1971 to take over passenger rail from the private railroads.
There used to be a lot more private passenger rail companies, but they were all going bankrupt, which is why Amtrak was created
@@Chario_ the private passenger rail was all the now freight-only railroads, and that was back in 1971 before all the really big mergers. The private railroads had to compete with trucking that used state-backed highways and subsidized airlines. Passenger rail was a big money loss, especially after they lost the mail contracts in the 1960s, but they were federally mandated to keep their passenger trains going. The federal government formed Amtrak to take over what was left of US passenger rail and free the railroads to focus entirely on their freight business (The exception is the Rock Island who kept running two small intercity passenger trains in Illinois until the end of 1978).
Most Americans, "I'll take a train when they pry my cold, dead fingers from my steering wheel."
Meanwhile, this American bought a $39 share and road from Orlando and arrived, rested after having ridden my e-book and had energy to see a museum walk around to the square and more. If I had driven it, I would’ve arrived stressed.
Meant to write fare not share.
Meant to write, read my e-book. I should really read my comments first before I reply since the auto correct is not so good.
Just saying, the golden age of passenger rail was back when railroads were privatized. Public run rail projects are plagued with mismanagement, politics, and wasteful spending. A private enterprise is a for-profit business so they make sure nothing is wasted and deliver on time.
Exactly, public rail operators should not exist anymore.
@@ncard00 What about SNCF, SBB, PKP, Korail, JR and basically every other non-US operator? They're almost all state-owned and work a million times more efficiently than anything in America
Honestly it’s not so much about time savings, it’s about CONVENIENCE. No traffic, no TSA, no weather delays, no accidents blocking lanes, no baggage claim or check in, no showing up at the airport two hours before your flight, you can work or do school work the entire ride. It’s A to B. Very little hassle.
I always want California High-Speed Rail and Brightline West and I always love California High-Speed Rail and Brightline West.😮
Yes and yeah of course California High-Speed Rail and Brightline West.😮
Planes will always have a role for more than 500 miles, but under should be high speed rail all over the US.
The Midwest right should have the following at high speed or higher speed like Brightline.
Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, and the Twin Cities.
Chicago to Detroit
Chicago to St. Louis (granted this just got better to 110mph).
Chicago to Indy and Cincinnati
Chicago to Cleveland
Yes,next Brightline needs to do a San Antonio ,New Braunfel, San Marcos, Austin Brightline ;expanding it all the way to Dallas;and from Dallas to Houston ,from Houston to San Antonio ;and from Houston to Galveston .
I believe that the range of 150-400 miles depends on the trainsets that are used for a particular route or corridor. IMO, SCMAGLEV's higher top speed and faster acceleration (both in contrast to conventional high-speed trains) could expand that range to 100-650 miles.
Indeed, but long distance Maglev is only for countries who have perfect regular high speed rail, like Japan, otherwise it’s not worth it, and hyperloop will have taken over before the US’s national HSR network is finished, doubling the speed of maglev.
Regular HSR is already faster than air travel for ~600 miles or less. No maglev needed.
We had proposed a 525 kph, 310 mph maglev system for the west. Biden blocked it in 2021. Las Vegas to Los Angeles in 72 minutes. Mc Carran to LAX gate to gate is 65 minutes, 50 min flight time, the most flown route in the U. S. today.
A 650 kph, 400 mph maglev can go from L. A. to NYC in under 13 hrs with two stops. As a night train, you would depart L. A. at 6pm and arrive in NYC at 10 am. Long distance maglev at 5000 km, 3000 mi is feasible and doable, today. Not only passenger service, but high speed heavy freight service for the fraction of the cost of air freight, net zero.
Needs to be faster and grade-separated
0:38 Why are you disturbing the other passengers on the train for this speech? It's incredibly selfish and disrespectful.
Rail is the next generation of transportation, not electric cars.
I thought the UK was behind with high speed rail. We currently have 125 mph rail lines and are trying to upgrade to 220 mph lines.
& we’ll have 220 MPH CAHSR before HS2
They didn't give enough details on Brightline West (Las Vegas and suburban LA). It will be different from the Florida line in that it will be running up to 186 mph, fully electric, on a line with no auto crossings.
Yes.😮
If it were electrified and grade separated then yeah maybe it could be. But until then it really isn’t a good model of modern high speed rail. Does it beat driving? Yes. Does it beat regional air? Absolutely. But it still has a lot of problems.
If you build it, people will use it. Within a very short time of the Eurostar 190mph high speed train services beginning operating between London and Brussels through the channel tunnel in 1994, over 90% of the people who previously flew took the train. Half an hour check-in, and city centre to city centre in under two hours, faster and much less hassle than by air, compared with trekking from the city centres to the airport, checking in, flying and doing the same in reverse.
"We will never see high speed rail without substantial public investment", stupid, when that's never gonna happen, and is not true, only Brightline has been able to do it so far, and they will have built lines between all the big corridors by 2050.
New England should have its own version of Brightline. Amtrak's Acela which runs from DC to Boston and vice versa isn't enough anymore. Such train routes would include A: Boston to Springfield via Worcester, B: Providence, RI to Burlington, VT via Worcester, Leominster/Fitchburg, Keene, Lebanon, and Montpelier, C: Greenfield to Cape Cod via Fitchburg (Fitchburg State Campus area), Boston, Foxboro (Gillette Stadium area), Plymouth, and Sagamore Bridge, D: New London, CT to White Mountains Region, NH via Norwich (notably the Mohegan Sun area south of the city), Worcester, Lowell (UML Campus area), Manchester, and Concord, and E: Stamford, CT to Cape Cod via Bridgeport, New Haven, New London/Groton, Westerly, South Kingstown (URI Campus area), Newport (via underwater tunnel), Fall River, New Bedford, and Falmouth (via underwater tunnel). However, not all will become reality.
Good attempt, but Japan better model for any high-speed rail. Keep separate it off Freight lines who has a monopoly on nearly all of the existing USA rail systems
After riding the bullet train in Japan 2 weeks ago.... the US is DECADES behind.. but if enough people jump on board this may take off very very quickly.
Since Japan have hsr since the 70s the USA are almost 60years behind
Brightline may sound good right now but it does not have to put up with the hassle of what Amtrak has to deal with Amtrak has to run on class one tracks with freight. It’s an entirely different ballgame and if you put bright line out there on freight tracks, it would be the same as Amtrak.
High Speed Rail!?!? Now that is hilarious
High speed rail is a thing that’s existed for decades?
I am hoping they have an on time train schedule like they do in Europe.
Wish the texas triangle has a network connecting the 5 big cities. They are at perfect distance for a high speed rail, lots of people travel between the cities already, economic and population are growing across texas and this would just speed up the process due to higher connectivity, reduce highway congestion meaning people would be less likely to stuck in traffic and might reduce % of accidents on interstate (i-45 between dallas and houston is the most dangerous interstate in the us), also it is much faster and ppl can get to these cities under 2hrs, and friendly to the passengers and environment as well (80% of co2 emission is from construction process. For context, with the shinkansen, on avg emit 4.2kg of co2 per seat for a 316 miles trip, compared to 50kg per seat on a boeing 777-200 flying to the same destination). This is gonna give people a new option to travel, and we SHOULD have more choices. And this project would need both public and private funding, like brightline and texas central. The current highway system already cost a ton and they all rely on tax payers’ money, building more lanes aint gonna solve the problem, and they need maintenance as well. There are tax payers who wanna drive on highway, and those who wanna have a train. The amtrak in texas ain’t it, take a whole day or more to go from dallas to houston.But I do think the usa is not ready for an expansive high speed rail throughout the country, just in specific region because most benefits high speed rail gives come from the spillover effect to nearby region and it has a more profound impact on gdp of a region instead of nation
A major difference: in car u drive and u need attention and focus. In train u can sit and relax and be free. Or also work, so in the end you win time.
1. 7 punch excisions 2. one laser 3. one needle and 4. one circumcision.
I am temporarily living directly next to the track in Stuart. The trains are empty during evenings and the 30 trains blare their horns all day. Why they have a train leave Orlando at 4:38am is bizarre.
Maybe it’s for people who want to arrive in Miami by 7:30 AM for business reasons or to catch a cruise.
I came back to Orlando in the evening, and the train was almost full.
I guess you haven't paid attention to see that the 4:38 is packed or the next one is usually sold out. Orlando saw almost 80,000 passengers in the month of October alone.
Almost all negative comments about Brightline come from those people who live between West Palm Beach and Orlando like Stuart or Melbourne, where the train doesn't stop. I can understand their frustration about that. A much ballyhooed train running 30 times a day through their community but doesn't stop to offer them service would, of course, be hated. 😒
@@exoressdelivers70 Actually if the community wanted the train to stop, then they could tell Brightline that. Two other stations in other towns have done that
It would be even better if Brightline were truly high speed, like they have throughout Europe.
considering theyre the only ones who actually opened one yes I'd think so
Sweet.
Best train in America
Actually no that would the Northeast Regional which parallels the Acela
@@IndustrialParrot2816 we all have our preferences, I think Brightline is a lot nicer and more of an experience. The stations are insane.
@@TrainzDriver2 the Northeast Regional is fully Electrified and they are going to start using the same passenger cars as brightline in a few years
what makes the northeast regional better than the Acela? Acela is faster and I assume has at least equal or greater amenities.
@@IndustrialParrot2816 The problem is Acela can only maintain that top speed for only a 50 mile stretch between Washington DC and Boston.
It is a model. A good one. Same as that little Texan thing. In the same way that Amtrak's Heartland service is a model, but a bad one.
this combined with EVTOL aircraft could be a game changer for transportation
Green airplanes will never work in time to save the planet.
This is amazing, trains are the best way to travel for sure. It's time we show that sentiment.
finally. something good coming from FloriDUH.
Real coast-to-coast high speed rail with dedicated railroads would be a great thing for the USA. It would give the country another viable option for traveling. However, it's very unlikely since Americans love cars so much.
Totally agree. I wish there were more / better public transit options around the US.
Once Americans get a taste of high speed rail on home soil, and experience its benefits first hand, I guarantee we’re going to want more of it. If it’s more convenient than flying and faster than driving, people will use it.
HSR between cities is only part of it though. We also need better transit connectivity within those cities, linking the stations and where people want to go, whether that’s just buses or something greater like light rail or even subways.
Coast to coast is never gonna work at all. As an HSR fan i can recognize it that much
@@sneeki8082 do coast to coast interstate highways work? People aren’t driving them all the way across the country. Nearly all drive between cities connected by that interstate highway, which itself connects with other interstate highways to form a network. Same idea with a cross country HSR line. It would connect city pairs often traveled by people, and link other separate HSR lines together.
@@ChrisJones-gx7fc fair point
Bright line isn’t high speed rail…
I'm on bright line right now. It's not bad. It's a bit expensive. Flying is cheaper.
I got a November special for $39 from Orlando and then for December. I bought the black Friday special for $59 from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale.
So if you’re looking for specials, keep checking the website
Flights MCO-MIA are more expensive. Your cheaper Spirit Airlines flights into FLL are only cheaper if you travel with nothing more than an 18" backpack. Throw in a carry-on and you're looking at ~+$60 each way. Your base ticket doesn't even include seat selection so have fun with that middle seat. Need to change your flight within 60 days of departure? Good luck with the $60-$110 change fees (the latter price is within 7 days of departure) unless you paid the $45 waiver up front. Want wifi along your journey? That's another $8. All that to save maybe 20 min vs Brightline into Fort Lauderdale (1 hour check in + 1 hour flight + 15/2- minutes of deboarding =2 hours 20 minutes vs Brightline's 2 hours 45 minutes into FLL)? If downtown Miami is your final destination than FLL airport leaves you ~45 minutes north and a ~$48 Uber ride away.
While cheaper, the time wasted is longer guaranteed.
While not true HSR (due to restrictive federal regulations), it is an important step. If you look at how every other nation built their HSR, except for China, they were all built on the backbone of existing regional rail networks. However, the US doesn't really have that, and the very few places that do lack sufficient frequency and convenience.
HSR doesn’t have crossing and doesn’t hit cars.
Miami to Orlando is a 4 hour drive without traffic. This train takes 3:30 hours and costs $80 each way. Now if they got the price down to $20.... you would save money.
How often does traffic allow 4 hr drive times Miami-Orlando?
It's $60 if you book in advance, and a lot of that extra cost money is for the comfort. Brightline might take a similar amount of time compared to driving, but but you get free wifi, more legroom, and can spend that time working, taking a nap, getting up to stretch/use the bathroom etc instead of having to constantly look at the road or stress about traffic. The same advantages also apply when you compare it to taking a plane (which isn't that much faster once you factor in airport security)
The fare from West Palm to Orlando is $29.50 until March. There are $15 fares from Miami to West Palm. There are other discounted fares if you are flexible.
@@davidjackson7281 oh dang, didn't realize that. I just checked the prices 2-3 weeks from now lol
@@Chario_Hope you were able to book a bargain fare ride. What a great train pretty much regardless of cost. Bargain fares no doubt make it more pleasurable.
I’m gonna be on Brightline on Saturday from Miami to Orlando later this week. I’ll update this comment with a trip report for those curious.
Brightline will be announcing extend their service to Naples FL Miami turn into a high speed Passenger train service Florida tourist loop.
Would be nice.
san sjoe la and las vegas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Brightline should manage Amtrak, they will do a better job.
Got to fix the tracks first
Tracks are in peak condition.
The federal government would have to spend a lot more, maybe like $1 trillion on high-speed rail.
Dear Amtrak, IF YOUR SERVICE IS NOT AT LEAST HOURLY PLEASE DON’T BOTHER MANY WILL NOT USE IT.
True, but politicians run Amtrak, not Amtrak themselves.
The only thing holding back the successful construction of high-speed rail in the USA are the layers and more layers of environmental regulations that make it virtually impossible to do anything.
Wish America would have better trains
Absolutely! - Zoomer
That f*cking cool
in the US trains compete with the airlines, not cars.
people who prefer to drive these long distances (road trips) are not worried about time. and
stop comparing the US with europe and asia; different topography, different geography, different cultures, different lifestyles, ...
Then so be it, fewer planes and more trains is better too.
Co-sign
This is only good for short trips. This would take way too long to go across the nation.
Why the people on the train looks so fake
Brightline is NOT a high speed rail similar to the Shinkansen or TGV. It's a regular speed train using stock rolling stock from Siemens, which is perfect for the US. You can put the thing anywhere providing the track infrastructure is up to spec.
It would be if it were hight speed rail at all
Well Japans Bullet train goes 200mph.
Y’all need to speed it up
BRIGHTLINE HAS A LONG WAY TO GO BEFORE ITS "HIGH SPEED" !!!
Brightline average train speeds can barely be called "High Speed" Orlando to Miami is about 235 miles. Which by road can be driven legally in 3 hours 27 minutes, and the Brightline snail train does it in 3hours 30mins (210 mins). Meaning the AVERAGE speed of these trains is about a derisory 65mph. We had a number of steam hauled expresses in the 1930's in Britain with AVERAGE speeds of 70-72.5 mph !!!!
Amtrak will never be because of how old it is and it being a non pvt railroad