ORLANDO, Fla. – Brightline is celebrating its one-year anniversary of rail service between Orlando and Miami.
The high-speed rail connects Central and South Florida, but an expansion to Tampa could be on the way.
“What we’re doing here hasn’t been done in 100 years, and we’re really creating the blueprint for what it means to travel on high-speed rail in America,” said Barbara Drahl, Brightline’s senior vice president of Marketing.
During its first year, Brightline traveled 5.4 million miles with 2.6 million rides taken. That’s according to representatives for the company who say demand is in line with Brightline’s protections.
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With new coach cars on the way, they’ll be able to accommodate more customers.
“We’ll be able to move more people, put those cars where we have the demand, because people are generally going to want to travel all at the same time,” Drahl said. “So, we’re going to put those coaches where we have demand and provide more guests with the ability to travel between our regions.”
Drahl said they’re always looking at guest feedback to make improvements.
“Things like accessibility, family travel, food and beverage offerings, just making travel easier,” Drahl said. “What to do with bags, some of this education we’re going to continue to push and educate our guests. Also making changes, simple things like signage, you know? Restrooms, signage in multiple languages. So, things that are just continuing to enhance the guest experience.”
Brightline passengers Crystal Long and Erin Stiles said they’ve used the rail service several times to travel back and forth between Miami and Orlando.
“I can go from Miami to Orlando and then go back in the same day, which we’ve done several times and go to the theme parks,” Stiles said. “We used to live up here in Orlando and we enjoy coming up here seeing friends and family.”
Drahl said as for the future of Brightline, they’ll continue to grow and expand.
“We’ve already announced that we’re going to be building a station in Cocoa,” Drahl said. “We’re looking at the Treasure Coast and of course, ultimately wanting to go out west to Tampa.”
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