Following the route of Brightline West

Vacant lot with Brightline West billboard

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Agencies in California and Nevada have issued private activity bonds for the Brightline West project, a key element in funding the 218-mile high-speed rail venture between Las Vegas and Southern California. It is not clear whether the start of construction is contingent on obtaining money from the combined $2.5 billion in […]

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Joint SunRail-Brightline Sunshine Corridor gets more support

Locomotive with two bilevel passenger cars rounding curve

ORLANDO, Fla. — A rail corridor that would enable Brightline to extend service to Tampa while allowing commuter operator SunRail to link Orlando International Airport and area theme parks has received a funding boost. Commissioners in Seminole County, just north of Orlando, this week voted to contribute $500,000 to a $6 million feasibility study for […]

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Brightline West now expecting to launch in December 2028

Illustration of high speed train in desert

LAS VEGAS — Brightline West no longer expects to launch operations in time to capitalize on visitors to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, according to a company bond offering. KTNV-TV reports that the 1,200 pages of documents related to that bond offering indicate that passenger service is now likely to begin in December […]

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Brightline on-board workers vote to join union

people serving food

WASHINGTON — Onboard attendants at Brightline have voted to join the Transport Workers Union, the union announced Tuesday (Jan. 14, 2025). Mail-in voting concluded Tuesday after beginning on Nov. 27, 2024. The approximately 100 workers who sell food and beverages onboard trains and provide other services between Orlando and Miami voted in favor of unionization […]

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Brightline to bring back South Florida commuter program

People mill about on platform next to streamlined passenger trains

MIAMI — Brightline will revive the commuter pass program it discontinued last year, thanks to a federal grant it received last week, the company has announced. The company received a $33.8 million Restoration and Enhancement grant from the Federal Railroad Administration, which the federal announcement said would support expanding Brightline train consists from five to […]

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Six rail routes receive federal grants for service improvements

Passenger train crossing bridge with ocean in background

WASHINGTON — Four state-supported Amtrak routes, Connecticut’s CTRail, and Florida’s Brightline will receive a total of more than $146 million for service improvements from the Federal Railroad Administration, the agency announced today (Friday, Jan. 10). The funding comes from the Restoration and Enhancement Grant Program. It was announced at the same time as FRA funding […]

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News Wire top stories of 2024, No. 3: Brightline West

Line of people with hammers at table with rail and spikees

It was described at groundbreaking as the start of the United States high-speed rail industry. But arguably, the Brightline West project is the best hope for establishing true U.S. high speed rail. The April 22, 2024, groundbreaking ceremony in Las Vegas — on a lot south of the Las Vegas strip, next to Interstate 15, […]

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