High Speed Train “The Brightline” from Miami to West Palm Beach

if you wanted to build the nicest train in the united states what would you do maybe you'd identify major population centers relatively close together but plagued by unmanageable traffic perhaps you design stations in the very hearts of those cities and link them with high speed and energy efficient locomotives pulling beautiful and comfortable cars well that's what they're trying in florida let's get on board the bright line hello jet setters and rail fans i'm jeb brooks from greenergrass.com right now i'm in downtown miami but i've got to make my way up to west palm beach now those two cities are served by the nation's only privately owned and operated passenger rail service it's the bright line and i hope you'll join me as we check out this service together the trip will take about 72 minutes to cover the roughly 70 miles or so along the east coast of florida from miami to west palm beach the name brightline carries throughout the experience including at the station it's a bright and cheery space that doesn't feel anything like other rail experiences in the united states these brightline stations which are not shared stations are all located within the urban cores of the cities they serve making them easily accessible here at the miami station you can head upstairs where there's a food court which is open to anyone even if you don't have a brightline ticket several restaurants are currently open but not all of them at least not yet the bright line opened in 2017 but suspended service in march 2020 for obvious reasons so it's not surprising the station is still not operating on all cylinders there's also this area called the common lounge accessible to everyone there are desks and plugs to get work done but i headed back through the straightforward and quick security check to the waiting area you'll have to scan your ticket into one of these machines walk through a metal detector and pass your bags through an x-ray machine that's right unlike amtrak your bags will be scanned here behind those security checks though you'll find plenty of seating along with a bar and a convenience store there's also a premium lounge back here and to that point there are two classes of service on board the bright line smart and premium the biggest difference is that passengers with premium tickets can access the lounge as well as get drinks and snacks for no additional cost with my 37 premium class ticket i wasn't gonna miss the lounge so i scanned that ticket again and headed back this is a railroad lounge i could have passed on this space and saved a few bucks with a select ticket which cost 22 but i'm glad i didn't this is a really nice way to kick off this journey even though it's so short there's plenty of comfortable seating including couches chairs even desks [Music] there are a lot of drinks and snacks included in the premium ticket price [Music] you can get coffee here and there's a refrigerator with water and soft drinks there's also an automated self-serve bar that provides beer and wine passengers have to submit a scan of their driver's license through a website on a mobile device now frankly i found it clunky to use but eventually i did get it to work cheers premium boarding began early before anyone else but i didn't hear an announcement maybe i missed it our departure which was scheduled for 1 48 p.m on a wednesday looked to be on time it's time to get boarded let's go the train itself was beautiful clean and really embraced the name brightline it was bright boarding was extremely simple with each car labeled clearly and there were signs hanging from the ceiling too i dropped my suitcase in the premium car before heading to the back to check out the locomotive there's one at each end by the way you can also check a bag if you'd prefer that option there were 16 departures the day i traveled so finding a time that works for you should be pretty easy each brightline train set currently consists of four passenger coaches that's three smart cars and one premium car along with two siemens diesel electric locomotives the whole train set was manufactured by siemens currently the train runs from miami to west palm beach with a stop in fort lauderdale according to brightline in 2022 they're going to begin service all the way to orlando even though the train set can hold up to 248 people it was pretty empty on the day i traveled there were only four of us in the premium car and another dozen or so throughout the rest of the train the seats are comfortable and i had enough room at my assigned seat 3c for my small backpack there's a two-part tray table which i found large enough to get work done [Music] there are also usb and us plugs and it's possible to sit in a section like that over there with a table between four chairs [Music] just before we departed our cabin attendant offered a cold towel it was a welcome treat on this hot humid florida day and we departed the station right on time if you visit florida is this a service you think you're going to use or would you prefer your own rental car let me know in the comments now our tenant came around with a snack tray that included basic chips crackers and the like before returning with a drinks cart both snacks and drinks are included with a premium ticket and passengers in the smart class of service can purchase them she spoke highly of the pre-mixed old-fashioned and who was i'd argue [Music] in 2018 news that virgin group would become a minority investor in the bright line broke and that it would rebrand divergent trains usa as seemingly apropos partnership unfortunately by mid-2020 that deal fell apart in the midst of disagreements and lawsuits so the train is still the bright line as florida passed us by i decided to explore a little bit the premium car includes 21-inch seats with the availability of individual seats in other words you can do what i did in reserve a spot without a seat mate [Music] the smart car includes 19-inch seats and a 2x2 configuration again drinks and snacks are available for purchase here the train is also fully ada accessible and offers level boarding that makes it easier for wheelchairs strollers and wheeled suitcases there's even space for bikes and the trains are pet friendly the bathroom was large and clean much nicer than say an amtrak bathroom passengers are encouraged by these signs to make calls between cars and or even given this bench seat free wi-fi is available and even though it's not blazing fast it allowed me to catch up on some emails during the trip [Music] now it's not high speed yet the top speed on this stretch of track is 79 miles per hour but when the extension to orlando opens up the train will travel as fast as 125 miles per hour on its way to orlando international airport the entire trip between miami and orlando should take about three hours but again i was only on board for 72 minutes from miami to west palm beach and that included a brief stop in fort lauderdale to drop off some passengers and pick up some others as we make our way into west palm beach i think it makes sense to think about the whole experience the best way to do that is with the jeb score but be sure to stick around to the end to see the unique transfer brightline makes available to its passengers now the jeb score is an unscientific and lighthearted scoring system that ranks five factors we'll look at the lounge the seat the in-seat entertainment the food and the service the lounge is top-notch it feels a lot more like a business-class lounge for an airline than a railroad lounge here in the u.s no doubt about it this is worth five stars the seats are great for a trip of this length nothing special but i'm not sure i've ever said this about a seat they just look good i hope the light colored leather stands the test of time but it does make the whole car feel bright and on brand four stars here when it comes to the nc entertainment i guess the passing scenes of florida are nice and access to wi-fi is helpful but there's not much else that's not too surprising this is worth three stars the food and drinks are fine they included mixed drinks beer wine non-alcoholic options and frankly with such short distances i'm not sure you need more than these types of snacks four stars here the service was great our attendant engaged with everyone on board and seemed genuinely excited for those of us who were first-timers five stars here so that leaves the brightline train with service from miami to west palm beach and eventually orlando with 21 out of a possible 25 stars we arrived in west palm beach right on time and it gets better thanks to a tesla i got a ride to the airport as they work out the kinks in the booking process this transfer was free eventually have a cost i'll link to the brightline's website in the description below where you can find the most current information about their offering as for me i don't like driving particularly in florida so using the bright line to get up and down the coast is a great option and makes it possible to price out flights to and from different airports while maintaining easy access to other parts of the state you'll certainly find me back on board the bright line sometime soon between now and the next time see on the rails

Channel: Jeb Brooks

Views: 478,956

Keywords: west palm beach, Brightline, Brightline Train, Brightline Orlando, Brightline Train Orlando, Brightline Bags, Brightline Florida, Brightline Miami, Brightline Train Full Speed, Bright Line, Train, Rail, Railroad, Trains, West Palm Beach, Siemens, Railfan, Virgin Trains USA, High Speed Rail, Brightline Review, Florida East Coast, Train Travel, Siemens Charger SCB-40 Locomotive, High Speed Train

Id: Mz9y84oJv0E

Length: 9min 46sec (586 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 26 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/la-fours]

For anyone asking what the value proposition is of this train given what seems like comparable driving times on google maps you should also factor in that these cities are connected via one of the most traffic congested and dangerous portions of I-95. Unless you plan on leaving in the middle of the day or in the middle of the night your chances of running into an inescapable nightmare of gridlock induced by accidents, construction, rain, lane diving from the toll express lanes, a ladder in the middle of the road, dead body, whatever are pretty close to 100%. It’s a stressful way to spend a commute and taking a train is far and away the better value assuming your destinations are somewhere accessible from the train stops.

[u/slippingparadox]

If you grew up in Soflo, youve probably been hearing about this for your entire life

[u/Long_Horror8562]

Interesting train name.

Here is also an interesting name for the Swallow train, also high-speed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKlg8PNQDp8

[u/NUMBERS2357]

72 minutes to cover the roughly 70 miles or so

It seems very charitable to call this "high speed rail."

The Northeast Regional train from New York to Philadelphia, which according to Wikipedia is 91 miles (on the "route map" dropdown it says NYC is at mile 231 and Philadelphia is at mile 322), and I went on Amtrak's website and found a train that does the trip in 82 minutes.

The Northeast Regional train is not billed as "high speed", and makes 8 intermediate stops, but averages 66.58 mph, and this Florida one, with one intermediate stop, apparently averages 58.33 mph.

Compare some actual high speed trains:

• Tokyo to Osaka is 320.25 miles in 2 hours 24 minutes, average 133.43 mph.

• Madrid to Barcelona is 154.4 mph

• Beijing to Shanghai is 819 miles in 4 hours 18 minutes, average 190.46 mph

• The new Tokyo to Osaka now under construction will be 272 miles (more direct route) in 67 minutes, average 243.58 mph

At least it rates well on "lounge", "seat", "in-seat entertainment", "food", and "service"

[u/GrayFawkes]

I'm literally on the brightline right now lol

[u/5_yr_lurker]

15 people on the train? Doesn't sound sustainable without govt subsidies ...

[u/StreetCarry6968]

Looks like a step in the right direction