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| Plans for MiamiCentral, which will include the Brightline train station. |
The privately run rail line will connect Florida's top tourist hubs.
It's hard to believe this doesn't already exist, but All Aboard Florida—a new private inter-city train service—just unveiled plans for an express train connecting Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando along a 235-mile route. Expected to be complete by mid-2017, the Brightline will take passengers from Miami to Orlando in three hours—just under the three-and-a-half hours it takes to drive the same distance without traffic. The trains won’t be classified as high-speed, but express trips will travel up to 125 mph.
"Half of our business is international," William Talbert, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, told USA Today. "To connect Miami and those other three communities by train makes it convenient, affordable, clean, and safe to travel. It gives the visitor options that we haven't had before."
Construction has already begun on stations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. The Orlando station is in the works next to the Orlando International Airport. Projected to cost $3 billion to build, the Brightline will be made up of flashy red, orange, green, blue, and pink train cars and pulled by a distinctive yellow engine car. The train will have free Wi-Fi, power outlets at every seat, and group ticket reservations for tables of four. Ticket prices have not been announced.
The All Aboard Florida service is just one of many inter-city lines in the works across the country. A $68-billion public high-speed train from Los Angeles to San Francisco is already under construction in California, while private groups are pushing for a railway in Texas (between Dallas and Houston) and between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Written by Meredith Carey, www.cntraveler.com
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