In the US, roads and highways have been constructed and maintained almost entirely by tax dollars. Rail transport, on the other hand, receives far less support. As fuel costs rise, transporting people by rail is far more energy-efficient than by automobile, and that's where our tax dollars should go.
@@ianhomerpura8937 I remember watching a video about the nationalized railroads during World War 1. At the end of the War the roads were just handed back to the rail companies in a very dilapidated condition. The government did minimal to zero maintenance!
@@edwardmiessner6502 interesting that is the case in the mainland US. In the Philippines, the Wilson government nationalized the Manila Railroad Company, and it has been under state control since. They never gave it back to its British owners, even after independence in 1946.
The big reason the feds created the interstate program is because Eisenhower wanted a road network for the military. I’m sure if it weren’t for that more highways in the US would have been funded by state bonds and tolls to pay those bonds.
" As fuel costs rise, transporting people by rail is far more energy-efficient than by automobile," Not if the distance is greater than 200 miles, that's when the plane is a lot faster, or less than 50 miles, where cars are dominant. In about 20 years, cars won't use fossil. They'll all use batteries or H2. Your main complaint is that the car is privately owned, right? You want the state to own and control the means of production? From each according to his means to each according to his needs?
technically JR East and West basically focused only the Shinkansen, the rural/ local routes outside of tokyo are basically mothballs and money sinks to their accountants. many former main route has been downgrade or given to the local council to run.
The big success is they own real estate. Owning and developing properties around the stations. You find department stores like Keio, Odakyu, Seibu, Keisei in and around Tokyo. Also being traded in the stock exchange.
I’ve ridden the Brightline 5 times in the past few weeks. I’ve lived in S. Florida for 30+ years and rarely go to Palm Beach. Now, because of the Brightline, I’ve been there 2x this month alone. Palm Beach is awesome and there’s so much to do right within walking distance of the station. Super clean stations and trains. The staff are great. As you point out, the Premium services are great.
Yep the more modes of transport the more accessible places become. It’s good for people finding jobs in the city and good for those who don’t want to live in the city to commute.
This is the great benefit of good public transportation and why they don't need to be profitable themselves; it'll boost local economies and improve lives socially too.
The addition of their Tesla cabs for taking you the last mile is key-if they didn’t offer that, then you might feel more pressure to rent a car because you need to get from the station to your final destination. The pickup and drop off component of it really is a difference maker that makes it worth it. Last thing you want is to be stuck with an Uber surge or running down a cab. This makes it easy, affordable and effortless
I can hardly wait to travel in Brightline, as soon as the line from Orlando airport is finished I will also travel and see Fort Lauderdale and West Palm for the first time since I don’t like and enjoy toll road driving
I really hope this Brightline service works. They need to rezone the areas around these stations. Single family homes cannot support a service like this. You need dense communities. I don't mean, residential towers but multi family homes, townhomes, etc. Walkable communities. And pressure these townships to expand their transit within their communities. Create some Transit oriented communities.
i mean these stations are mostly in downtowns im pretty sure. I know the miami one is with access to the metro mover, though the mover is kinda slow. I think what ur talking ab isnt just needed for brightline but for everywhere especially with metro cause the metro just cant get enough tax funding with single family homes to expand to make it worth it. It would help traffic so much but the density or competent politicians arent there to support it
doesn't the same company own the land at the start and end of the line? And it's already dense, I thought? (or at least planned, by the parent company, to be dense)
@@LrdZanny they built apartments alongside the west palm beach station. Ironically, half the height of the building is a parking garage. Kind of defeats the purpose.
Orlando will be their big money maker. As far as Amtrak taking it over...the only way that would happen is if it were to fail. If anything I'd like to see Brightline compete with Amtrak on key corridors.
I'd love to see them co-operate on the FEC line, running all the way from Jax to Miami: Brightline stopping in major cities like St. Augustine, Jax, and Cocoa, Amtrak filling in stops in between. FEC seems like a reasonable freight company to work with so far, provided that the passenger railroads they work with pick up their share of the tab.
Amtrak sucks big monkey balls. Especially in Atlanta and all of Georgia it’s sucks huge massive piles of shit. Literally no train service from Atlanta to savannah, Atlanta to Chattanooga, Atlanta to Orlando or any part of Florida.
You've expressed alot of my concerns with brightline that I haven't heard anywhere else. I have some bets with people how long it'll exist before the state or Amtrak takes it over. I'm giving it 15years.
Hello Alan. I figured you'd be here. Although I'm also concerned about the private sector's fundamental need for profit, their increased amount of funding gives Brightline more opportunity to expand its frequencies and overall quality when compared to a federal ro state funded route at the mercy of whoever is in office.
@@tehangrybird345 To which it kind of did. Amtrak is now proposing regional service between Miami and Tampa along their existing ex Seaboard route, but I'm not sure when it'll start service, and it certainly won't be as frequent as Brightline.
I'd gladly take that bet. I'm not a rich man, I'll put $50 up. $50 says it's still in private hands and doing great 15 years from now. If it is, you owe me $100.
Whilst Brightline is an "express train" between major cities, they are planning on creating a second service that will stop at many new not yet built stations in South Florida that will serve the local commuters. A Ft Lauderdale Airport Station will connect to an intermodal garage, where a light rail "loop" will run from the airport, cruise port and Brightline station. Similarly, extensions at the Miami Station will connect to Miami Airport and Cruise Port. Universal Studios in Orlando has donated land for a future Brightline Station that will serve them and the convention center. The goal is to market Brightline as a means of connecting the major tourist centers, increasing options for vacationers already in Orlando. By hopping on Brightline, visitors can go to a casino in Tampa or Ft Lauderdale in the morning, then go back to their hotels that same evening. With the South Florida local service, residents can have alternatives to driving. To help fund the railroad, Brightline built apartment buildings next to the Miami and West Palm Beah stations. Profits from those go to keep Brightline running, They did their homework and the future is looking good!
@@macgobhann8712 Brightline is offering better service then Amtrak offers anywhere in the country. If Amtrak takes over, there is no doubt that service quality will decrease. While the video fails to mention it, Amtrak actually offers service in the same cities as Brightline. The trains travel half the speeds, and its only 2 trains per direction per day, so service is cut drastically... infact, they aren't even operating it currently as a result of COVID/shortages. If Amtrak takes over, this is what is in store: - 50% average speed reduction - 75% reduction in trains per day - removal of all amenities that this guy was impressed about - no further expansions - station locations need to be changed to be more "equitable"... stations need to be worried about making sure they are servicing the poor and needy rather than focused on the profit motive, which is to get as many people onto the train as possible Tri Rail also serves the same exact area, but is publicly run. When gas prices first hit $4 a gallon, ridership on Tri Rail was way up, almost every train was hitting capacity as people were trying to save money. And what does the public system do at that point? They realize that with more people riding it, operational costs are up, they are going over budget, and cut the number of trains per day, because the motive wasn't profit or to maximize ridership. Brightline obviously would have added trains. they are taking delivery of more trains right now to increase service frequency with the launch of the Orlando extension. Brightline also is exploring increasing speeds to 150mph in some areas as part of the Tampa extension after Orlando. Things that would never happen with Amtrak.
Since taking a train on opening day in 2018, when Brightline first ran trains only from/to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, I have taken about 20 trips. All have been excellent as this video describes. In February 2020 we took Brightline roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale to Miami for a cruise. Our reasonably priced tickets were for: parking, the train trip, and transportation to/from the ship terminal. It even included free checked bags and allowed us to spend time in Miami following the cruise without our bags. AND, the total cost was cheaper than either car service both ways or parking a car at the ship terminal. When guests visit I insist we take Brightlne somewhere. I look forward to service to Orlando.
Brightline is perfect for Florida. Florida Man does so many things in one day and in order to get Florida Man wherever they need to go, they need a fast train. And thus Brightline helps them stay focused rather than sitting in traffic Also, the Orlando station won't be at Disney. The plan is to build one by Universal Orlando and I-Drive as those places pushed for it more. People were hoping it'd be at Disney as an alternative for the Magical Express from the airport which Disney eliminated as a perk for staying on-property. In Paris, you can go to Disneyland Paris directly from CDG on TGV in just ten minutes. Eurostar even provides a service from London-St. Pancras.
It's a real shame Disney backed out. Disney under Chapek ("Cheapek" to some) has been cutting a lot of the benefits to staying on their property and frustrating guests more with all the additional fees. I-Drive may not have the Disney brand rec but at least they're building up while Disney makes cuts and changes.
I didn’t buy a Disney annual pass like I used to do since I’m a Florida resident because some the benefits were eliminated and it cost more and so I’m going to other places in Orlando instead such as discovery cove and Universal for the first time!, and when the train starts then I’m gonna ride freight line for the first time from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale!!!!
I'm hoping for Amtrak to expand its service to be more similar to brightline here in Michigan between Detroit and Chicago. My town of Ann Arbor is right on the line and its walking distance to downtown (or I can bike there in ~8 minutes). The trains sometimes get up to 110mph on the route from what I've found with expansions coming. But 3 round trips per day is just not going to cut it. Hourly (or half hourly) between two sizable midwest cities seems plausible and I think ridership would directly follow. Great to hear your experience was so great on Brightline, rail travel and public transit in general need better marketing! Its a great, relaxing, and usually affordable way to travel.... even if this one is privately owned.
I took that same train when I was in college, only I traveled on the Ann Arbor-Pontiac section of the route. While the train can do over 100 mph in the western part of Michigan due to the lower population density, it doesn't get anywhere near that speed once you get to Metro Detroit. Going from U of M to home was 55 minutes by car (and at worst, 1.5 hours during the holidays when the roads were clogged with everyone leaving campus), but the same trip by train is 2 hours - and that's if it's not delayed (the first time I ever took the train home it was delayed by an hour). Even in the worst, most frustrating rush hour traffic, driving is still quicker than taking the train. Another issue with Amtrak is the accessibility of its coaches and platforms. None of the stations that I saw had elevated platforms, so you have to climb into the coaches from ground level. Not an issue for me since I'm fully mobile, and always traveled light when taking the train since it was for quick weekend trips home, but I always wondered how someone with limited mobility got in these things.
Hello and thanks for your post. I just happened to visit Chicago and Detroit recently and took the trip between the two cities with Amtrak's Woverine (I remember that the we served the station of Ann Arbor). As a European, I was appalled to see how infrequent, slow and unreliable the service was between two such key "neighboring" cities. I'm not into European-American "wars" and I honestly wish you improved passenger train services. Hoepfully, with the growig success of Brightline serving as a role model for your country as a whole, plus the development of Texas Central and the huge federal grant recently voted for passenger rail, things are set to improve. My best wishes!
I use Brightline from Fort Lauderdale to MIA twice a month. However when I come back I use tri-rail as one service per hour makes the entire trip that much longer and the uncertainty of when my plane lands makes buying the tickets in advance impossible. With added frequency I am sure BL could serve mire people. Also annoying you habe to ger there 15’ early or they will not let you board. Making it possible to buy tickets at the turnstiles with apple pay or the likes as you can do with Metrorail, would make it far more convenient and popular.
that's so strange! in the UK you can't get to the platform if there's a barrier if you're 3 minutes or less before departure but for most stations you need a ticket before boarding
Agree the removal of crossings needs to be reviewed for Brightline. For NC I think once the station is built in Uptown Charlotte that the use of the train should see an increase of usage. I moved outside of Charlotte and drive to the Light rail to get to work in Uptown but would rather get on a train in my town and ride it directly into Charlotte.
I'm in the NYC area and would consider taking the Carolinian down there when the new station is built, but the only thing more frustrating than the placement of the current Charlotte station is the reliability of basically any Amtrak train that runs south of Washington.
@@cco53587 the difference in NC is that the state owns the tracks vs a railroad company. It was double tracked and a lot of the crossing were eliminated or grade separated under Obama administration. While Amtrak doesn’t own them it is the next best situation they can be in.
@@cco53587 I took the Carolinian from Philly earlier this year. Since you will be on the train the whole day anyway, delays really shouldn't be too much of a bother. Things will only get better as improvements in Virginia come on line.
Also, brightline owns some of the land next to the stations, which, based on the limited knowledge I have about Hong Kong metro stations, is a similar idea where the trains operate at loss, but the stations as destinations make the profits
It's also kind of similar to London's Metropolitan Line (which used to be their own company, who bought extra land around their stations and then developed it)
The one thing I want from Brightline is electrification, providing it grows in demand and ridership. Being from NJ, we're blessed with ~30 minute interval trains on the NEC, as well as reliable Amtrak service that's fast and fully electrically powered. Though the stations make Indian stations look spotless, the actual service is still pretty good. I hope Brightline does keep improving and hopefully, when Amtrak improves it's service and reach, it'll be encompassed into a new national rail network.
A great Video and I'm happy that you raise these concerns, as most are just amazed by the whistle and bells for what need to be a basic service. A train should look good, be comfortable and get you to your destination on time - the rest, like a lounge and a free bar is not important if you provide the basic. A train station is not an airport. I can get on the fast train in my city 2 minutes before it's departure and I don't seat around in the station waiting for it. I just have a few corrections. 1. An 18 month closure is not "a brief pause" 2. Japan is unique and their system works well for them. It was privatized but "private" in Japan is not the same as in other places and each company has a monopoly in a specific area (for the most parts, there are some correlations and lines that cross areas of different operators but that is the general idea and different operators of different lines, like intercity and city lines and different transport means). As for The EU, all EU members had to separate the rail infrastructure from the rail train operation so the infrastructure (rail and stations) is owned and operated by a state that needs to allow open access for both the national operator (like DB in Germany, SNCF in France or RENFE in Spain) and new privately owned operators (many are operated by other countries national operators, but not all). Italy was one of the first adopters (in Sweden it exists for much longer, even before the EU decision) but this now works all over. In Spain OUIGO (low cost brand of the French SNCF) and AVLO (the new low cost brand of the national Spanish operator RENFE) compete on a few lines and in November they will be joined by IRYO (owned by Trenitalia, Italy's national opertaor, and Air Nostrum, a Spanish airline working that operates the regional flights for IBERIA). In France Italo, the private competitor of Trenitalia in Italy, operates a line from Paris to Milan, FlixTrain operates trains in Germany and Sweden and more. This is possible only when the network itself is owned by the government. 3. For a good intercity train service you must have a good local public transport service.
You've covered excellent points that highlight the fact that North America will never catch up with Europe. The USA, in particular, fell out of love with passenger trains in the 1950s. While Brightline is a great idea, I wish it success for as long as it is able to operate.
@@Eurobazz "You've covered excellent points that highlight the fact that North America will never catch up with Europe. " Nothing to catch up with, population density of Italy is 201 people per square km, in the USA ours is 37. HSR won't be justified here for a long time. We use aircraft instead, in North America and Australia. "The USA, in particular, fell out of love with passenger trains in the 1950s" Well yes, because cars were widely available, thus rending shorter distance trains obsolete outside of rush hour, and airline flight was becoming widely available, thus rendering high speed trains obsolete (at our typical intercity distances).
". I can get on the fast train in my city 2 minutes before it's departure and I don't seat around in the station waiting for it." Are you talking about HSR? If you go to TripAdvisor most people say you should get to the HSR station 30 minutes ahead of departure. Amtrak in the USA also suggests 30 minutes ahead. Airlines start boarding 30 minutes before takeoff. The local train between San Francisco and San Jose, which is not "high speed" since it's only 50 miles, sure I get on there two minutes before departure. Totally different situation. " An 18 month closure is not "a brief pause"" Covid, ever heard of it? The public transit buses here in Silicon Valley were restricted to 9 people per bus at one point. Public transit in the USA has still not recovered its previous ridership. It's getting closer but not quite there. A lot of people only have to come in the office three days a week. "For a good intercity train service you must have a good local public transport service." And also high enough population density to justify it (EU and Japan have it, USA, Canada and Australia do not) and the distance between cities can't be too far apart.
Private rail ain't so bad. A lot less bureaucracy political bickering over what gets built. Also public/private partnerships can add an addition means of funding and expansions.
Brightline is privately owned but not privately funded. They get both cash subsidies and indirect subsidies in the form of real estate that they sell for cash.
@@TohaBgood2 every industry gets subsidized, and giving land to railroads is far from anything new. (Its literally how the intercontinental railroad got paid for) I think that once they get the rest of their expansions built (or atleast the Orlando connection done) they will be self sustaining. (And if not the externalities of the train like decreased highway congestion may be seen as too important by the state of Florida to let the train die, which could lead to subsidies for the company to keep them solvent and operational.)
@@jasonreed7522 Yes, that is all correct. Some of the best rail transportation systems in the world are funded like that. Just look at the Japanese Shinkansen, or the Hong Kong metro rail system. Or, the most extensive rail network in the world, the US freight network! Subsidizing your rail transportation via real estate is nothing new and perfectly viable. But it is a subsidy! You are giving a private company an asset or expanding their rights to an asses (zoning increase) in exchange for rail service. The company turns around and immediately sells what the government gave them for cash. That’s my problem with this. All of these people are pretending or directly saying that “Brightline never received subsidies”. That is complete nonsense! Brightline is exists exclusively because of subsidies. There is no Brightline without government intervention! It is a creature of the state if Florida justblike Tri-rail, or any other state rail service, or Amtrak. BTW, no, Brightline never plans on making money from actual tickets. Look at their prospectus. They are only ever planning on making money off real estate. The entire rail operation is just a loss-leader to sell condos. Brightline says so themselves!
The issue is that it's great now, but over time it'll become profit-minded and services will reduce, and prices will increase. Especially if that route doesn't have good train competitors. It's what happened in the UK, now on a national level our train travel is generally a mix of private companies which are expensive and not always well integrated with each other or other public transportation (esp in terms of tickets and flexibility)
@@kennethhanks6712 AND because of this you still have the same problem as in the West Palm Miami leg: frequent grade crossings which limit the speed (and increase probability of incidents.) AFTER the track turns to the east west leg does the rail become 'high speed' due to no grade crossings and the track completely fenced and or elevated. The north south leg is classed as 'higher speed' no 'high speed' and these are legal terms with regard to speeds possible for safety reasons.
A decent amount of Japan’s trains are privatized and they are absolutely spectacular. The government should’ve never gotten the majority control of railway/train services, the government can’t run anything right.
The biggest problem Brightline will face is revenue. They're putting a lot of money into expansion, but they're definitely not filling trains with riders. Sure, some people ride it, but it's not financed through anything other than investment and sales. If those can't cover costs, it will degrade until it shuts down.
I feel like the Orlando expansion will make up the money. Especially if it will be cheaper, faster, and more convenient than cars, more people will most likely choose Brightline than driving cars; especially for tourists.
A very real concern, and while I don't have any insider information what I've heard as a local is that their long term goal is to pursue a mixed revenue stream like Japanese rail companies - basically using real estate and rail developments to increase the profit of both. If they'll pull it off is the real question though, and it seems like a toss up still at this point.
I'm in Fayetteville NC. There were some pamphlets in the Amtrak station talking about implementing regional state rail. This was 2007. Like regional rail from Wilmington to Fayetteville to Charlotte to Asheville. It would've open the state to a large amount of people who would prefer rail if it was available. The reason why North Carolina is a good candidate for this plan, is because of how populations are distributed throughout the state.
IMO regional rail are more viable in the former 13 colonies than the midwest due to the dense development/ expansion. even amtrak's own best corridor are in that "segment" where there's still more people density compare to the midwest. i think if you overlay the old rail corridors and their account books, it could say the same story.
@@PrograError Did I mentioned anything about the Midwest in my comment? Anyway, it only has been very recently that THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA seen growth. And it was not by accident, but a plan that was concocted by regional planners of that time. By the way, CHICAGO; the state of Illinois has the largest amount of rail going through it. And it happens to be the Midwest region. So please save it!😡
Absolutely not. California HSR is actually going to be a lot better than bright line, problem is private contractors and the corruption that comes with them ruin every large scale project, so it's gonna take forever to get there.
@@macgobhann8712 CHSR is never getting done. Funny enough, government officials in CA need to be investigated for fraud. 105 BILLION DOLLARS, and not 1 inch of track.
@@macgobhann8712 it cant be better, if it doesnt get build. Meanwhile brightline is busy hiring 11.000 construction workers to start construction of brightline west. This route will go from las vegas to rancho cucamonga, and is expected to be operational before the 2028. i am from europe and i have a good laugh at americans who dont undersstand a thing about rail in genera, let alone high speed rail. Brightline is doing things right and make the trains actually operational. Do you know that there where a lot of compromises in florida in terms of speed, i will give you an example : FEC and GRADE CROSSINGS. 1st FEC.. brightline in florida shares tracks with FEC meaning that it needs to compromise on FREQUENCY. 2nd GRADE CROSSINGS : because of the grade crossings the FRA has set a limited speed wich is another compromise. THIS is the whole reason why it is very dissapointing for americans. But people like you can not even see the positives about this. People DO take the train, wich means less congestion on the road wich is one of brightlines goals wich they slowly achieve, california because of brightline trains running makes 2 billion in extra yearly revenue. another fact : WHEN and IF CAHSR gets build and OPERATIONAL brightline west is going to use these tracks aswell to serve parts of california. Its people like you who dont understand how complicated it is to build ANYTHING in the USA. if one company is doing things right, its brightline. even under harsh USA laws and regulations. I come from the netherlands, we in our country recently have made a normal line between utrecht and amsterdam, quess how long it took from concept to completion ?.. within a year. it is now operational and running flawlessly. Your system is highly corrupt and innefective. at least brightline makes things work!.. Cant say that much from CAHSR. sorry to burst your bubble.
Good video and very astute observations. Liked your comments on the view held by many when it comes to funding for Amtrak. No one complains about roads not turning a profit, but they want rail to do so. However, roads are "public" while much of the actual rail is "private" (owned by freight companies) - that may need to change for public rail travel to succeed. It will be nice when Brightline not only goes to Tampa, but Jacksonville as well.
Would be pretty cool if we had a Brightline style service in Texas. San Antonio to Waco is 4 metro areas lined up next to each other with a combined population a little less than Greater Miami.
used to live in Texas along time ago and I noticed that San Antonio has really grown in population so it would be nice if they had a reliable train service from San Antonio to Austin at least. It could make one stop in New Braunfels on the way. There could be a lot of tourists and students that would need to ride it
Amtrak really should put a brightline-style model to work in the Hiawatha corridor in Illinois and Wisconsin. Seeing as it's only 86 miles currently between Milwaukee and Chicago, I think frequency would totally take this service to the next level.
While it's an advance in US terms, compared with Europe and South-East Asia it's decades behind, for the following reasons: Brightline shares some track with freight trains; Brightline tracks have level crossings; Brightline uses diesel locomotives; Brightline's highest speed will be only 125mph.
I read an article somewhere that said that Brightline plans on running 150 mph trains on the Tampa to Orlando stretch whenever it opens. It might not be Europe or Japan level speeds, but it's a start.
I'm sorry I LOL'd at the idea that Amtrak will take over brightlines infrastructure. Considering all the money the money that has been invested into building the infrastructure plus brightlines ambitions to be a nationwide rail alternative to Amtrak it's simply not happening and I pray that it never comes close to happening. There needs to be more competition when it comes to rail services instead having one service monopolizing the entire country.
@@edwardmiessner6502 What are you even talking about? My comment is simply stating that Amtrak acquiring brightline is a comical idea and furthermore having 2 separate competing services is an overall net win for consumers.
I live in Massachusetts and our MBTA Commuter Rail service, while decently accomplishing its main purpose of public transport, leaves lot to be desired. Old carriages from the 70s, underfunded services, and slow travel times in relation to the importance of a city like Boston. It would be great to even have hand-me-downs from Amtrak once they retire their current diesel engines that run in New England.
Its unsustainable in most of the US.The density isn't there to support good transit. If your city is 4 blocks of office buildings surrounded by single family homes with quarter acre yards for miles the only way to fix it is to upzone and rebuild from the middle out - in which case you'd want to move closer to your job anyway.
@@LrdZanny well, the type of housing is irrelevant. We just don't have the population to have the same population density as Europe. Our population density in the USA is 37 per square km. In Italy it's 201 per square km. Europe has 700 million people in the same space that we only have 300 million. So until the 1000 years have passed that Europe had to grow their population....HSR is not justified. What you can justify is "higher speed rail", average 90 mph as opposed to the typical 35 mph. Basically Higher Speed Rail means make any upgrades you can short of buying more private land to create another "right of way". Improve signaling, put better barriers for grade crossings or eliminate the crossings, put an extra railroad track in there at specific places so you can go around freight trains, etc.
@@neutrino78x when you state the population density United States is 37 per square KM that does not give the whole picture such as are you figuring the countryside in your computation. The United States has many big cities with high density they’ve grown rapidly specially Florida many people moved there from New York City, Boston and many other cities.
@@enjoyslearningandtravel7957 "The United States has many big cities with high density they’ve grown rapidly specially Florida many people moved there from New York City, Boston and many other cities." We sure do, and all those cities have public transit. We have public transit connect San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland too, two major train systems (Caltrain and BART). I am by no means against it. But when you say "replace aviation with trains" that has to include going from one dense area to another, ok. And in the USA they're VERY far apart. Manchester is less than 200 miles from London, but New York is NOT less than 200 miles from Chicago. It's 800 miles, and that would take HSR at least four hours and be very expensive to construct, and therefore a waste of money because a jet can fly it half the time. Should we improve the speed of existing public transit trains between those areas? Absolutely. Just don't spend 100 billion on it, that's not justified when the private sector has it covered and does a MUCH better job. HSR struggles to find an application here in the USA and also Canada and Australia. In the dense areas, you don't need it because the cities are close together and even a 90 or 100 mph train would be fine, and going from one dense area to another, it's not useful because the distance is too great. The way we do it is fine....public transit for cities within a dense area like The Bay Area or the NEC, aviation for travel between those areas.
Brightline has free transfers to / from the major airports and cruise terminals. As far as I’m aware, you only need the 2 hour advanced reservation if you specifically want the Tesla ride.
I think Brightline's business model is wrong. The company shouldn't be providing free taxis and airport style waiting rooms. Remove these frills and increase the service to half-hourly.
I would like to see the Piedmont train extended down to Wilmington. That can help unlock more potential for tourist coming to the beach. We just finished a new bus terminal near the new proposed station sight to get people too and from the station
To each his/her own opinion. But it seems to be working so far, and looks promising with that extension to Orlando. This is what they should have done in Texas instead of that bullet train project, which seems pretty dead and buried nowadays.
They won the legal battle for use of eminent domain. Also settling for what Brightline settled for doesn’t change the face of American High Speed Rail. This is basically just a train.
@@banksrail Don't exactly get your point. Bullet trains like Texas Central's proposal are...well trains too. And that hyperloop stuff was never meant to exist either.
@@that90skid72 This is conventional train that already exist in America. What separates it from a random commuter railroad. Heck, there are commuter railroads that run faster than these trains. What Texas Central and CAHSR are doing is actually progressing America into the 21st century.
@@banksrail Yeah but America commuter and intercity network is very poor. It better that America strengthens conventional rail network and have normal rail. Because no country except China and maybe Japan that has HSR focused rail network.
@@natenae8635 Uderstandable. But, that puts projects like Texas Central in a separate league than Brightline. They aren’t comparable. That’s why I compare it to an average commuter train.
I took a commuter train from Amsterdam to Brussels while working in Europe. It was old and noisy and made so many stops. At the stations the loud speakers were set to max and you could not even have a mobile conversation. The stations did not have lounges so I would say this looks to be levels above what most routes in Europe are like.
You are comparing apples and oranges here. A commuter train is meant to make many stops and is not comparable to an inter-city train. Also there is so much train travel in Europe, these airport style lounges would be impractical
@@donnerwetter1905 Yes I know but Brighline is basically a commuter train. He makes it sound like al trains in Europe are superior and that is not true. I have also rode the Eurostar from London to Paris and back, it wasn’t anything special and no perks at all that I saw unless I missed them.
@@asquithmainlines699 Brightline is inter-city rail. They are also planning commuter rail, but it is not becoming a reality before 2024. Stations like these would be impractical with commuter rail, as commuter rail has much more stations and many more passengers. The German S-Bahn or the French RER is commuter rail. The ICE, TGV or Eurostar are inter-city trains. They are also high speed, which makes them superior to those Brightline trains, which are made by Siemens, which is a European company btw. You can search for Berlin central station on yt. That station is superior to any Brightline station.
@@donnerwetter1905 I have been to the Hard Rock Cafe in Berlin but we were driving. Have you rode the high speed trains in Japan? From what I have heard they set the standard. Defiantly on my bucket list. Canada has the Rocky Mountaineer that runs between Vancouver to Jasper and or Banff, it is a tourist train but one of the best. When I travel I prefer a One Ton Duramax and slide in Camper, home on wheels. Best part is when you see something interesting you can stop and check it out. Neither a train or plane offers that option.
@@asquithmainlines699 Japan has separated tracks for HSR and the other trains, which gives them an advantage. Here in Europe all the trains, inter-city, commuter and cargo are sharing the same tracks. That makes operation a much bigger challenge. With low passenger numbers and tourist orientation you can do different things. There 5700 train stations in Germany alone. Keeping them all in good shape is not so easy. Brightline does operate only a handful of stations.
Rail in the US, even though its inefficient, and never even goes to where you want it to. Is still so fun to travel on. There's so many upsides to it. As someone in the Denver Metro, I've taken the Commuter Rail system to Denver a couple times. And it's just such a nice experience. It's faster (They go from like 55-80mph). And you get to see scenery while not dealing with traffic. It's also better for the environment, because they use electric lines. Such a shame that the US, even when we try to build highspeed rail *cough cough California*, we are not able to due to lack of funding and unsupportive politicians saying it's a waste of money and taxpayer dollars. Then we go spend billions on Automotive infrastructure.
Agree with just about everything except for wanting Amtrak to take it over. That's about the worst possible scenario. Maybe Amtrak can learn from Brightline and copy their business model - perhaps first along the Piedmont route.
@@macgobhann8712 No, they don't. They know they will stay operational as long as there is a willing Congress who continously throws money into their bottomless pit. If they were like a real business, they would cut useless employees and be incentivied to try to turn a profit.
USA prefers and glorifies individualism over social benefit, so USA will never have decent public services (public transportation, healthcare...) like Europe has.
But Americans also love American Exceptionalism especially in its military prowess and in its law and order. Which means despite not having the decent public and social services Europe has we'll pay just as much in taxes, except for large corporations and the rich.
Had not Amtrak been chronically underfunded it may well have already been servicing key sectors with high quality, high frequency, fast passenger trains. I'm sure other potential private operators are watching Brightline very closely. If Brightline is a success other operators are sure to copy it elsewhere. If Amtrak don't, or are not allowed to get in on servicing the profitable sectors with a premium service, they will be left with the sectors that the private operators won't touch
The US needs to place the ownership and maintenance of the permanent way in the hands of a public/private company away from the likes of BNSF, CSX etc. This will allow for track upgrades after which Amtrak can operate at faster speeds and not be affected by freight trains. It will be a more level playing field. Is this likely to happen, of course not.
@@Eurobazz That is theft of billions of dollars worth of private infrastructure. If they did, they better compensate the companies by buying it all and the land it is on at current market price. I will support forcing the companies to cooperate with Amtrak and not being actively hostile towards passenger rail (Looking at you CSX). Also in Europe, they have too many trucks on the road and not as much freight rail. If you make the rail mostly passenger, then you have lots more traffic and pollution than reduced due to trucks and lots of freight moved to the road.
Yes. The accessibility is insanely good. Full level boarding with dedicated seats for people in wheelchairs. Even the bathrooms are fully wheelchair accessible
That entire train/futuristic railroad gives me a GO! Transit vibe tbqh. Didn't even know it existed until i discovered this train in Orlando. But it's possibly one of the most cleanest, & distinctive trains in the USA.
I was actually in the Raliegh-Cary area over the weekend and used Amtrak to get there from Florida. I'm SUPER excited for Brightline because my Amtrak experience SUUUCKED. But it sucked in a "Not Amtrak's fault" Kinda way. I could just tell that they were under-staffed, under-funded, and under-supported. The trains were still packed. So there IS a demand for inter-city/state rail in the US. Once Brightline gets hooked up to Orlando it's going to be a ground-zero for how much it's going to used. There's a tone of people who in Orlando that are 'From' other parts of the state who moved for business, retirement, and schooling. Going from South Florida to Orlando via rail will be a huge boon for a lot of them. On top of that, the planed expansion to Disney will greatly benefit a lot of people in the city, because it's going to be much easier to hop on Brightline than having to fight the Mad Max experience that is I-4 and Disney parks. I hope Orlando sees the Boon from this and starts to expand the Sun Rail, get an East-West going. Plz.
I can’t wait until brightline gets to Orlando. I would love to do a weekend beach getaway to south Florida without the stress of driving or expense of flying.
Damn congrats on getting this video to pop off! You deserve it! Hope to see a mix of content about transit around the country and local developments back in Raleigh.
Highly interesting report about a highly interesting service. That said, what's the point of beating cars in terms of speed between Miami and West Palm Beach if you have to arrive 1/2 hour or more ahead of departure because of stupid airline-style stuff like check-in, security checks, lounges, boarding etc.? Seen from Europe, Broghtline looks very promising for the future of passenger rail travel in the USA (at least in Florida) but, if they want it to be competitive against car travel and to be a real train service, they'll need to drop the airline-style fuss. Let people who really want to enjoy a lounge, snack, drink, enjoy it if they want but please don't impose the fuss of airports on all rail travelers. Other than that, thumbs up for this very bright line!
The reason that the private operators are doing this is *because* the government is too stingy and cheap or the government-run systems are too incompetent to do so on their own.
With the added security at airports, and the other hassles of air travel, it is surprising how far people will drive. I live in Chicago. My wife worked for a company based in Cincinnati. After 9/11, many of my wife's co-workers starting driving to Cinci for business trips. It was just as fast as flying, if you have to get to the airport 90 to 120 minutes before departure. Even if high-speed rail existed, I bet people would still drive, simply because they control their schedules. This is probably why the private sector is skittish of putting money into high-speed passenger rail.
I think it’s debatable. A lot People may drive at first because that’s what they’re used to but then comes people who don’t care to or are scared to drive. People who simply don’t *want* to drive and depending on time and also if trains become more normalized.
There's different types of commutes people make, so it depends but having the option would be more freeing. Places with efficient rail have trains every 5 or 30 mins so that would make it way more flexible.
@@enjoyslearningandtravel7957 I used to go to college downtown and even during rush hour it was way faster than driving or even taking the bus. 7 minutes subway vs 45 mins (on a good day) by car.
While it's a nice idea of having a train being treated as public transportation, keep this in mind it has to be supported by fees and taxes from the public who uses it. Much like the road maintenance is supported by taxes and fees, public transportation such as train has to be treated as such. You want private? Private will charge you. Either way you get gouged. Nothing is free, nothing.
The difference between public and private is the while the user is the one that, theoretically, fully pays for the service when it's private so only those who can pay for it can use it a public service is usually paid by a regressive tax, so those who have more pay more than those who have less and it is available for all who needs it. In a basic service like transport when people need it to make a living it must be available to all. That said many private services are actually financed by both their users and the taxpayer as they get "intensives", tax reductions, they pay unlivable wages, so the public finance aid for those workers who cannot afford a house, food, education, health and have a hard time paying for a car they need to get this low paying job. Road maintenance costs a lot of money but it also helps the economy to function and grow but it is a very limited and the least efficient way for large amounts of people to travel. An investment in public transport to provide local and intercity transport with a good, reliable and affordable service will creepiness the ability of people to find work, improve the movement of people and increase the economic growth far more than what it will cost to build and maintain. I know many Americans don't like to do it but look at other countries - they have far better lives than you. They live longer, healthier, with more time to be with their families and relax and they have better education than you. Yes, they pay more taxes but when you calculate the cost and quality of the services they get for those higher taxes vs what you privately pay for a far worst level of similar service you end up paying much more.
Not only that but Japan's rail companies own real estate around stations and end up turning a profit anyway from renting, so having transport isn't just about the ticket price.
I wonder if there are any lessons Amtrak can take from Bright Line and use in their current and future routes? As far as private vs. public, I know what you mean, but I think most local, regional and national rail lines started out as private entities, so maybe that’s just the way the US rolls. The one good thing about Bright Line being high end is that it may help raise the reputation of intercity train travel in the US.
Brightline is a lot more subsidized than Amtrak. That’s basically the entire difference. Amtrak was at breakeven before the pandemic. And this despite the fact that Amtrak is required by Congress to run extremely unprofitable long distance trains. The only reason they’re not bankrupt yet is because the Northeastern Corridor and their intercity lives are very profitable. Brightline gets direct cash subsidies, real estate deals that they sell for cash, and even their bonds are subsidized by the government. Brightline basically sells condo to pay for a loss-leader train that they use to sell more condos. We could implement this same system for Amtrak tomorrow and subsidize it to the same level, but the Republicans won’t allow for that to happen.
Los Angeles has had it's own transportation system regarding rail for over 30 plus years. Intercity as well as extending beyond the county of Los Angeles.
Still not enough, especially for a city that will be hosting the Olympics in 2028. At least half a million visitors from overseas will be coming to the city, plus a million domestic tourists or more, as shown in 2012 and 2016. How do you get to bring them all to the Olympic venues when they're not even connected to the urban rail network? LA has enough time and money to build a lot more than what is on the table.
Yeah but LA for its size has done a poor job. Although the can recover most likely. I think the sprawling nature of LA I’d what hurt it’s public transport
@@ianhomerpura8937 New transit projects usually are ridiculously expensive. LA is building what it can with the money that is available-which is substantial.
Very well made video! As an avid Brightline fan (and as someone who just rode it for similar purposes about a month ago), you hit every nail in terms of benefits and possible flaws. Although rail transport _should_ be financed as a commodity like it is in Europe, the U.S. became terminally car brained and continues to give significantly more funding to inefficient highways and leaves Amtrak enough pennies to run one train a day in regions that used to see 12. I believe the Northeast Regional (and maybe the Acela or Keystone) is the only Amtrak service that runs at least one train per hour, which leaves other routes to board trains at inconvenient times of the day which therefore makes them unattractive. Although I am concerned by the fundamental goal for profit by the private sector, Brightline is still given much more funding than any federal or state government ever will, which gives them the means to run frequent service with high quality for most and with room to expand, and I would never want that to be taken over by an overextended federally funded rail authority that takes forever to complete the bare minimum in service expansion. Also, Brightline is not using the cost cutting measures that private freight railroads utilize (PSR), and they are NOT an example of franchising (bidding wars between multiple foreign companies, but that's a complicated matter in its own right). Overall, great video and I wish Brightline the best of luck as it's privately financed funding model is what North America needs to get people back on board.
It's difficult to imagine that as recently as the time of our grandparents (or parents for some of us) private rail travel in the US was pretty much the top of the mark, with railroads and even specific trains competing for luxury, timeliness, speed, food, and more. Unfortunately we could never recreate that golden age of passenger rail simply because there is almost no way for a private entity to get the land and rights of way needed to establish a new line, much less re-establish many old lines. And it would be prohibitively expensive for government to do it in the current age of cutting government services (just the legal battles over obtaining the necessary land would be never-ending). If the FEC Railroad didn't already own the current route, Brightline wouldn't exist. The original FEC passenger service died in the 1960s, so I honestly hope they can keep it running today - and into tomorrow.
Interesting. Actually, passenger rail was all private enterprise operations less than 100 years ago, except for subways and such. I do wonder how much of this is subsidized.
CTA and the NYC subways were still mostly private into the 1970s, they were built with private investment too. Ofcourse they were taken over as municipal because of a mix of how railroads were treated by the gov and the reduced ridership because the cities were awful.
@@connecticutmultimodaltrans8226 That's not true at all. Brightline asks for and receives both cash subsidies and indirect subsidies in the form of real estate that they sell for cash. It's privately owned, but not privately funded! Look it up!
Rail was privately owned, but not privately funded. In fact, the rail companies received tons of land subsidies in exchange for subsidized passenger service. They were only able to con Congress into removing those covenants after they all went bankrupt in the 70s! Brightline similarly is merely privately owned. The state still subsidizes it both directly with cash and via preferential land deals which Brightline sells for cash. Their rail service is a loss leader that they use to sell condos. It's almost completely subsidized by the taxpayer.
@@TohaBgood2 Yup, I distinctly remember learning about the massive grants in land and funding that the US government Gabe to private rail companies in the gilded age. Maybe these people just didn't pay attention in class? Also, this is also why the USs, private freight rail companies are the only ones left standing, and are actually quite advanced compared to the rest of the world. It's a lot more profitable to move material than it is people, turns out.
A big piece of brighline's business model is that they still own substantial real estate holding in the center of pretty much every south Florida city from the days of Flagler and are developing those out as well.
I'm very excited for Charlotte's new station to open, still a couple years away. I'd love to see the Piedmont have hourly trips, 3 a day just doesn't cut it
How can a private company can get build infrastructure, operate a great service with modern trains and nice stations (it looks world class!), have ancillary ones with bike rentals and fleet of cars and vans, and still make a profit (I mean, free champagne?!) and expand? It looks like a perfect company! I'd love to know more about the people behind this story.
The fact that they blow the horn as it goes thru every crossing up the coast has created an audio nightmare for anyone who lives anywhere near of the many crossings. All day long early and late.
Yeah that is one thing I don't get about people who say Amtrak needs to make money they cannot make money along they have the long distance roots so the only way for them to make money is just to eliminate the long distance roots but that would not be good so honestly it shouldn't even matter
Politicians don't want to invest much in intercity rail..So we should be thankful that a private company is willing to invest in it. As far as electrification, that may come with battery locomotives. Catenary is ridiculously expensive.
Having ridden both tri rail and brightline I have to say I agree with most of this video. Although since I was curious I wanted to find out the top speed of tri rail which does reach 79 mph. It does go slower because it has alot more stops. The brightline stations and train are beautiful and definitely give a premium feel over tri rail. Although I do prefer tri rail because of it affordability and flexibility. Mainly you can show up at the station, get a ticket and ride for the same price. Whereas with brightline there is a penalty for booking less than 2 days before your trip. Although I have though about doing what you said, namely getting a premium ticket and getting my moneys worth in food and alcohol 😅.
Brightline is fine for now because it's mostly a novelty. But if it ever became a necessity for commuting it will be a disaster, just like privatised rail in the UK has been a disaster.
You're comparing apples to oranges...In the UK it all went belly up because of a series of factors (crumbling infrastructure, trains straight from the 50s....). Privatization went way too far (signals and tracks were privatized in different entities too), it was a totally botched job. Govt in the UK had to intervene and take back control of the tracks and signals (which is now known as Network Rail). That has nothing to do with current day Brightline, which is meant for business travelers and tourists, mostly. For commuters you already have the Tri Rail service, which works fine as well in the exact same area as brightline. Now what could be interesting would be for Amtrak and Brightline to compete on identical routes, that would be a great possibility, and would provide something seen in Europe (historical main rail operator competing with other private ones). Such a system has proven to work well until now. When Brightline opens their nearly completed segment to Orlando, that will be a game changer.
@@that90skid72 Very well stated. One slight correction: Tri-Rail runs along the western edge of cities served, Brightline runs through the middle of the downtowns.
Railways in UK has been never “privatized”. They were private when they got built at first, then gvm has stolen everything. However when latent “privatization” came the effectiveness of the railways has risen more than 50% and after nationalization degrades at fast rate, so fast as costs increase for NetworkRail. It was a huge success even so it’s not a real privatization
I 100% agree with the private/public difference. I also think that if rail transport is privately owned, it will only be seen and used if it gives profit to the company itself. I would believe that if Brightline is not gaining any money from the trains, it wont benefit them in any way and could lead to changes, modifications or even closing it. While being a public rail system, its not seen as a profit thing, but as utility, that benefits the population. but i do think that, Brightline is doing great on its own as a private rail company in Florida, and joining it to a public nation-wide rail system such as Amtrak would lead to it being left behind and in way worse conditions than it is now with Brightline. Idk tho
I'm on a keto diet, do they offer anything in premium coach other than beer, soda, chips and cookies,? I can't eat any of that stuff. The only perk for me in premium is getting to sit alone, as I am an introvert,😐. When service to Orlando starts, they should serve something more substantial. Full breakfast in the morning, soup and sandwich at lunch, meatloaf and fried chicken around dinner. For $100 one way, I want a meal. Lol.
Actually, MORE private transit should be allowed (the government gets in the way), exactly like it was during the Victorian Era when those now government owned lines were built. The government inherited what private business built and they have done a horrible job maintaining and expanding the systems. Bring back PRIVATE COMPETITION!!!
The thing is. The United States federal government never really had a national mass transit system, ever. You can say in some retrospect that Amtrak is the national mass transit system, but the company itself is just a semi quasi government/federal funded company. Means they do get a certain amount of government funding but technically the rest is up to Amtrak itself. The federal government does throw money at them for infrastructure improvements ( only on the Northeast corridor that Amtrak actually owns). They will also use some of that money on improvements to the trains themselves but not much. Also for the brightline and it bring privates company. Remember during the golden age of rail travel in the US, all thoses companies where private companies during that time. The United States will never see a national mass transit system, and that just goes back to how the nation is governed ultimately. It's up to the States, cities, and municipalities for their mass transit systems. I mean the US can attempt an national mass transit system but it will be extremely difficult to pull off with a crap ton of red tape and a huge amount of resources. In all honesty, for the US to see a large scale mass transit system, the best bet would be the private sector.
What’s the hatred for private compared to the deplorable service of Amwreck. Amwreck would destroy Brightlines charm. Long distance they are needed not intercity. You complain about lack of service where there could be ridership try growing up on Long Island with the worst train service out east.
Your conclusions really amaze me. Brightline offers a great service and you have really done a great job at showing what a fantastic addition it is the the south Florida area. You have also spoken about the dreadful situation of Amtrak with its old trains. It looks like you are just not joining the dots. Brightline is a great service because there is a great incentive in offering a reliable and trustworthy service. This will eventually lead to a profit and it will allow the investors to make money and continue making more rail projects like this. You are asking for it to be public. There is a public system already. It's called trirail and it's not even close to that of brightline because it is public. Don't try to destroy the only rail project that is working great in the USA just because you think it should be public.
Everything is better in Florida. Brightline is a success because it is a private company. Amtrak will never be anything but a boondoggle failure since it is effectively a Government Agency, despite being technically a Government chartered corporation. Brightline plan seems to be similar to Hong Kong MTR, a real estate company that also runs trains. MTR is a for profit company with majority Government owned shares. Keep in mind, MTR, and JR, started out as Government agencies and were privatized. Brightline is starting from the other end and will hopefully avoid the burden of Gov ownership.
Bitch, the NEC is fully electrified AND allows trains to travel up to 150 mph, 160 mph soon. And guess who runs the intercity services on that line? Amtrak! And what's even better? We don't have schmucks running into trains every so often because it's mostly grade separated!
I regularly ride the Amtrak Capitol Corridor in NorCal. Would love to see some of these features along that line. Trains are often late and there are large gaps in the schedule. Better than nothing, like you said, but room for improvement!
While I applaud the efforts made by Brightline's owners, future permission to build suburban railways in the USA MUST include the necessity to have locomotives powered by overhead electricity using pantographs. It's just not in line with today's environmentally-conscious public to have diesel trains. Regarding the deaths at level crossings, there have been at least three generations of Americans who haven't grown up with train services. Apart from educating the masses, full barriers covering both sides of the road should be used to avoid drive-around incidents.
Florida it the most amazing state in the USA!!! Many planned cities, with little public transportation and filled with old people! Florida has more drivers in their 90's than any other state! It should change its' motto to "Where you can drive with dementia!"
I took TriRail when I visited in 2017; at that point it was still better than most commuter rail I’ve taken. I’m curious how the two systems compare, aside from ownership/management. How different is their target customer base & service area? You highlighted some important distinctions between a customary public operation vs a private one, albeit probably for a limited time to develop a market.
One puzzling thing to me is why hasn’t Brughtlind put a station at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Intl Airport? The FEC tracks run right in front of the terminal!
You're comparing roads and utilities to passanger trains is not a great ideal because the government doesn't operate your car they simply build the road. Also your argument in general sounds very socialist. You're essentially saying that even though the government has failed to produce good rail service in the US the best passanger train that is privately owned would be better if the government took it over? European style rails comes at massive expense to the taxpayers. And as California has proven even when you have 40% tax rate you still can't succeed in making good high speed rail in the US government.
I'm pulling for Brightline - I really am. But, every time you showed the inside of the train, all I saw was a bunch of empty seats. Ridership has to improve if they are to survive.
i have been on brightline two flaws i didnt like: we went past FFL airport...why couldnt there be a station at the airport???!? aaaand i stop at the cruise terminal would be VERY useful.
Tri-Rail has the same 79 mph top speed, and has its fair share of grade crossing collisions, albeit less than Brightline (despite running more trains) because there are less grade crossings.
Privately owned Rail or any business don't have that get out of the failing hole like taxpayer owned systems like Amtrak or MTA. The risk for failure is excessively high. So those Privately own rail will go above and beyond to succeed and cater to customers. Taxpayer funded systems never have to worry about failure unless the policy says so. However since they depend on tax dollars and can get out of the legal trouble since who's gonna check the government? So there's no incentive to really cater the customer base. I'm born in and lived in New York City for many years and the MTA transit is inexcusably the most disappointing, disgusting, and dangerous in the country possibly the world for a first world country. Throwing money into a terrible system doesn't solve anything. Also to add the excessively Bureaucratic nightmare that the transit systems face also holds it back as well.
Brightline wont work in Florida because people are in love with their cars here. You can go once or twice somewhere just to check it out (done that) but you are not going to WPB, Miami, Fort Lauderdale or Orlando without a car. Public transportation sucks, FL cities are not walkable and weather doesnt help
I live in Florida and yes I drive but I’m not in love with my car driving in heavy stressful traffic. As soon as the bright line in Orlando opens I’m going to use it to get to southern Florida. Have you read the website about the train, but Brightline has its own shuttle vans to get to the station.
I was back in (one of my) old hometown(s) Vero Beach recently, to visit my sister, a recently retired city attorney who spent decades wrestling with ignorance and corruption - in other words, typical Florida politics. Vero Beach would have been mightily served by a Brightline stop, but the backwards among the city's population hated the idea of it coming through their town 32 times a day. So they fought it tooth and nail. They sued, they lost. So now they get the train going through, anyway, but no stop... which they could have had. And many of them are actually happy about that! (But what can say about a state that elected the criminal Rick Scott to governor twice and then the Senate?))
Missed to comment and illustrate gap filler for Level Boarding Eliminating level crossing goo but elevated track is required Huge embankments are a disaster
In the US, roads and highways have been constructed and maintained almost entirely by tax dollars. Rail transport, on the other hand, receives far less support. As fuel costs rise, transporting people by rail is far more energy-efficient than by automobile, and that's where our tax dollars should go.
Time to do what was done before in 1917: nationalization.
@@ianhomerpura8937 I remember watching a video about the nationalized railroads during World War 1. At the end of the War the roads were just handed back to the rail companies in a very dilapidated condition. The government did minimal to zero maintenance!
@@edwardmiessner6502 interesting that is the case in the mainland US.
In the Philippines, the Wilson government nationalized the Manila Railroad Company, and it has been under state control since. They never gave it back to its British owners, even after independence in 1946.
The big reason the feds created the interstate program is because Eisenhower wanted a road network for the military. I’m sure if it weren’t for that more highways in the US would have been funded by state bonds and tolls to pay those bonds.
" As fuel costs rise, transporting people by rail is far more energy-efficient than by automobile,"
Not if the distance is greater than 200 miles, that's when the plane is a lot faster, or less than 50 miles, where cars are dominant.
In about 20 years, cars won't use fossil. They'll all use batteries or H2.
Your main complaint is that the car is privately owned, right? You want the state to own and control the means of production? From each according to his means to each according to his needs?
Japan, for just one major example, proves that private and public railroads can coexist successfully.
technically JR East and West basically focused only the Shinkansen, the rural/ local routes outside of tokyo are basically mothballs and money sinks to their accountants. many former main route has been downgrade or given to the local council to run.
Key to successful private rail is to have competition. Plenty of railway options in Japan and in various parts of the EU.
The big success is they own real estate. Owning and developing properties around the stations. You find department stores like Keio, Odakyu, Seibu, Keisei in and around Tokyo. Also being traded in the stock exchange.
JR East also operates the Yamanote Line in Tokyo. It is the main line in the city. Always busy. Sometimes very busy. Standing room only.
Thank you! This commie doesnt get it, and compares European rail. Japan is the standard undoubtedly
I’ve ridden the Brightline 5 times in the past few weeks. I’ve lived in S. Florida for 30+ years and rarely go to Palm Beach. Now, because of the Brightline, I’ve been there 2x this month alone.
Palm Beach is awesome and there’s so much to do right within walking distance of the station.
Super clean stations and trains. The staff are great.
As you point out, the Premium services are great.
Yep the more modes of transport the more accessible places become.
It’s good for people finding jobs in the city and good for those who don’t want to live in the city to commute.
This is the great benefit of good public transportation and why they don't need to be profitable themselves; it'll boost local economies and improve lives socially too.
The addition of their Tesla cabs for taking you the last mile is key-if they didn’t offer that, then you might feel more pressure to rent a car because you need to get from the station to your final destination. The pickup and drop off component of it really is a difference maker that makes it worth it. Last thing you want is to be stuck with an Uber surge or running down a cab. This makes it easy, affordable and effortless
@@tomoconnell2320 yes I’m really glad I have some alternate to get somewhere instead of renting a car for just a short distance
I can hardly wait to travel in Brightline, as soon as the line from Orlando airport is finished I will also travel and see Fort Lauderdale and West Palm for the first time since I don’t like and enjoy toll road driving
I really hope this Brightline service works. They need to rezone the areas around these stations. Single family homes cannot support a service like this. You need dense communities. I don't mean, residential towers but multi family homes, townhomes, etc. Walkable communities. And pressure these townships to expand their transit within their communities. Create some Transit oriented communities.
i mean these stations are mostly in downtowns im pretty sure. I know the miami one is with access to the metro mover, though the mover is kinda slow. I think what ur talking ab isnt just needed for brightline but for everywhere especially with metro cause the metro just cant get enough tax funding with single family homes to expand to make it worth it. It would help traffic so much but the density or competent politicians arent there to support it
doesn't the same company own the land at the start and end of the line? And it's already dense, I thought? (or at least planned, by the parent company, to be dense)
Residential towers would be great though.
@@LrdZanny I agree, I don't see a problem with them. I've always been a fan of dense housing. In the video it looked like it's already pretty dense?
@@LrdZanny they built apartments alongside the west palm beach station. Ironically, half the height of the building is a parking garage. Kind of defeats the purpose.
Orlando will be their big money maker. As far as Amtrak taking it over...the only way that would happen is if it were to fail. If anything I'd like to see Brightline compete with Amtrak on key corridors.
Thank you. Someone who knows
I'd love to see them co-operate on the FEC line, running all the way from Jax to Miami: Brightline stopping in major cities like St. Augustine, Jax, and Cocoa, Amtrak filling in stops in between. FEC seems like a reasonable freight company to work with so far, provided that the passenger railroads they work with pick up their share of the tab.
@@sanchorim8014 I think brightline already helped them a lot especially the upgrade on the line up to the divergent to the airport
Amtrak should get booted out of Florida they are useless
Amtrak sucks big monkey balls. Especially in Atlanta and all of Georgia it’s sucks huge massive piles of shit. Literally no train service from Atlanta to savannah, Atlanta to Chattanooga, Atlanta to Orlando or any part of Florida.
You've expressed alot of my concerns with brightline that I haven't heard anywhere else. I have some bets with people how long it'll exist before the state or Amtrak takes it over. I'm giving it 15years.
communist
Amtrak should disappear as well as “public” roads, if there was no brightline there would be nothing as always.
Hello Alan. I figured you'd be here. Although I'm also concerned about the private sector's fundamental need for profit, their increased amount of funding gives Brightline more opportunity to expand its frequencies and overall quality when compared to a federal ro state funded route at the mercy of whoever is in office.
I’m hoping it stays for awhile. Maybe it will encourage Amtrak to be more competitive
@@tehangrybird345 To which it kind of did. Amtrak is now proposing regional service between Miami and Tampa along their existing ex Seaboard route, but I'm not sure when it'll start service, and it certainly won't be as frequent as Brightline.
I'd gladly take that bet. I'm not a rich man, I'll put $50 up. $50 says it's still in private hands and doing great 15 years from now. If it is, you owe me $100.
Whilst Brightline is an "express train" between major cities, they are planning on creating a second service that will stop at many new not yet built stations in South Florida that will serve the local commuters. A Ft Lauderdale Airport Station will connect to an intermodal garage, where a light rail "loop" will run from the airport, cruise port and Brightline station. Similarly, extensions at the Miami Station will connect to Miami Airport and Cruise Port. Universal Studios in Orlando has donated land for a future Brightline Station that will serve them and the convention center. The goal is to market Brightline as a means of connecting the major tourist centers, increasing options for vacationers already in Orlando. By hopping on Brightline, visitors can go to a casino in Tampa or Ft Lauderdale in the morning, then go back to their hotels that same evening. With the South Florida local service, residents can have alternatives to driving. To help fund the railroad, Brightline built apartment buildings next to the Miami and West Palm Beah stations. Profits from those go to keep Brightline running, They did their homework and the future is looking good!
I sure would rather take the train than drive between those busy cities. As soon as the Orlando one starts I’m taking the train.!!
If Amtrak takes over you can say goodbye the the extra amenities you said you enjoyed.
If it means better and cheaper service, then good.
@@macgobhann8712 Brightline is offering better service then Amtrak offers anywhere in the country. If Amtrak takes over, there is no doubt that service quality will decrease. While the video fails to mention it, Amtrak actually offers service in the same cities as Brightline. The trains travel half the speeds, and its only 2 trains per direction per day, so service is cut drastically... infact, they aren't even operating it currently as a result of COVID/shortages.
If Amtrak takes over, this is what is in store:
- 50% average speed reduction
- 75% reduction in trains per day
- removal of all amenities that this guy was impressed about
- no further expansions
- station locations need to be changed to be more "equitable"... stations need to be worried about making sure they are servicing the poor and needy rather than focused on the profit motive, which is to get as many people onto the train as possible
Tri Rail also serves the same exact area, but is publicly run. When gas prices first hit $4 a gallon, ridership on Tri Rail was way up, almost every train was hitting capacity as people were trying to save money. And what does the public system do at that point? They realize that with more people riding it, operational costs are up, they are going over budget, and cut the number of trains per day, because the motive wasn't profit or to maximize ridership. Brightline obviously would have added trains. they are taking delivery of more trains right now to increase service frequency with the launch of the Orlando extension. Brightline also is exploring increasing speeds to 150mph in some areas as part of the Tampa extension after Orlando. Things that would never happen with Amtrak.
@@macgobhann8712Amtrak is more than brightline.
Since taking a train on opening day in 2018, when Brightline first ran trains only from/to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, I have taken about 20 trips. All have been excellent as this video describes. In February 2020 we took Brightline roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale to Miami for a cruise. Our reasonably priced tickets were for: parking, the train trip, and transportation to/from the ship terminal. It even included free checked bags and allowed us to spend time in Miami following the cruise without our bags. AND, the total cost was cheaper than either car service both ways or parking a car at the ship terminal. When guests visit I insist we take Brightlne somewhere. I look forward to service to Orlando.
Brightline is perfect for Florida. Florida Man does so many things in one day and in order to get Florida Man wherever they need to go, they need a fast train. And thus Brightline helps them stay focused rather than sitting in traffic
Also, the Orlando station won't be at Disney. The plan is to build one by Universal Orlando and I-Drive as those places pushed for it more. People were hoping it'd be at Disney as an alternative for the Magical Express from the airport which Disney eliminated as a perk for staying on-property. In Paris, you can go to Disneyland Paris directly from CDG on TGV in just ten minutes. Eurostar even provides a service from London-St. Pancras.
It's a real shame Disney backed out. Disney under Chapek ("Cheapek" to some) has been cutting a lot of the benefits to staying on their property and frustrating guests more with all the additional fees. I-Drive may not have the Disney brand rec but at least they're building up while Disney makes cuts and changes.
all because they didnt want universal to have a station
I didn’t buy a Disney annual pass like I used to do since I’m a Florida resident because some the benefits were eliminated and it cost more and so I’m going to other places in Orlando instead such as discovery cove and Universal for the first time!, and when the train starts then I’m gonna ride freight line for the first time from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale!!!!
Correction, I meant to write freight line not freight line. Ha ha ha
Brightline
I'm hoping for Amtrak to expand its service to be more similar to brightline here in Michigan between Detroit and Chicago. My town of Ann Arbor is right on the line and its walking distance to downtown (or I can bike there in ~8 minutes). The trains sometimes get up to 110mph on the route from what I've found with expansions coming. But 3 round trips per day is just not going to cut it. Hourly (or half hourly) between two sizable midwest cities seems plausible and I think ridership would directly follow. Great to hear your experience was so great on Brightline, rail travel and public transit in general need better marketing! Its a great, relaxing, and usually affordable way to travel.... even if this one is privately owned.
I took that same train when I was in college, only I traveled on the Ann Arbor-Pontiac section of the route. While the train can do over 100 mph in the western part of Michigan due to the lower population density, it doesn't get anywhere near that speed once you get to Metro Detroit. Going from U of M to home was 55 minutes by car (and at worst, 1.5 hours during the holidays when the roads were clogged with everyone leaving campus), but the same trip by train is 2 hours - and that's if it's not delayed (the first time I ever took the train home it was delayed by an hour). Even in the worst, most frustrating rush hour traffic, driving is still quicker than taking the train.
Another issue with Amtrak is the accessibility of its coaches and platforms. None of the stations that I saw had elevated platforms, so you have to climb into the coaches from ground level. Not an issue for me since I'm fully mobile, and always traveled light when taking the train since it was for quick weekend trips home, but I always wondered how someone with limited mobility got in these things.
Hello and thanks for your post. I just happened to visit Chicago and Detroit recently and took the trip between the two cities with Amtrak's Woverine (I remember that the we served the station of Ann Arbor). As a European, I was appalled to see how infrequent, slow and unreliable the service was between two such key "neighboring" cities. I'm not into European-American "wars" and I honestly wish you improved passenger train services. Hoepfully, with the growig success of Brightline serving as a role model for your country as a whole, plus the development of Texas Central and the huge federal grant recently voted for passenger rail, things are set to improve. My best wishes!
I use Brightline from Fort Lauderdale to MIA twice a month. However when I come back I use tri-rail as one service per hour makes the entire trip that much longer and the uncertainty of when my plane lands makes buying the tickets in advance impossible. With added frequency I am sure BL could serve mire people. Also annoying you habe to ger there 15’ early or they will not let you board. Making it possible to buy tickets at the turnstiles with apple pay or the likes as you can do with Metrorail, would make it far more convenient and popular.
that's so strange! in the UK you can't get to the platform if there's a barrier if you're 3 minutes or less before departure but for most stations you need a ticket before boarding
Agree the removal of crossings needs to be reviewed for Brightline. For NC I think once the station is built in Uptown Charlotte that the use of the train should see an increase of usage. I moved outside of Charlotte and drive to the Light rail to get to work in Uptown but would rather get on a train in my town and ride it directly into Charlotte.
I'm in the NYC area and would consider taking the Carolinian down there when the new station is built, but the only thing more frustrating than the placement of the current Charlotte station is the reliability of basically any Amtrak train that runs south of Washington.
@@cco53587 the difference in NC is that the state owns the tracks vs a railroad company. It was double tracked and a lot of the crossing were eliminated or grade separated under Obama administration. While Amtrak doesn’t own them it is the next best situation they can be in.
@@cco53587 I took the Carolinian from Philly earlier this year. Since you will be on the train the whole day anyway, delays really shouldn't be too much of a bother. Things will only get better as improvements in Virginia come on line.
Wouldn't it be nice to not have to own a car
Also, brightline owns some of the land next to the stations, which, based on the limited knowledge I have about Hong Kong metro stations, is a similar idea where the trains operate at loss, but the stations as destinations make the profits
Yep. Brightline is subsidized via land deals just like the rail system in Hong Kong and in Japan. But they also get direct cash subsidies.
It's also kind of similar to London's Metropolitan Line (which used to be their own company, who bought extra land around their stations and then developed it)
Dude nice video but update the Orlando part. It’s NOT be going to Disney the second stop in Orlando will be Orlando convention Center/ Universal.
It’s basically going across the street from Disney now.
@@BENCOINTERNATIONAL nice to hear, where did you get this information because all over the news they are saying Disney doesn’t want it anymore.
The one thing I want from Brightline is electrification, providing it grows in demand and ridership. Being from NJ, we're blessed with ~30 minute interval trains on the NEC, as well as reliable Amtrak service that's fast and fully electrically powered. Though the stations make Indian stations look spotless, the actual service is still pretty good. I hope Brightline does keep improving and hopefully, when Amtrak improves it's service and reach, it'll be encompassed into a new national rail network.
A great Video and I'm happy that you raise these concerns, as most are just amazed by the whistle and bells for what need to be a basic service. A train should look good, be comfortable and get you to your destination on time - the rest, like a lounge and a free bar is not important if you provide the basic. A train station is not an airport. I can get on the fast train in my city 2 minutes before it's departure and I don't seat around in the station waiting for it.
I just have a few corrections.
1. An 18 month closure is not "a brief pause"
2. Japan is unique and their system works well for them. It was privatized but "private" in Japan is not the same as in other places and each company has a monopoly in a specific area (for the most parts, there are some correlations and lines that cross areas of different operators but that is the general idea and different operators of different lines, like intercity and city lines and different transport means).
As for The EU, all EU members had to separate the rail infrastructure from the rail train operation so the infrastructure (rail and stations) is owned and operated by a state that needs to allow open access for both the national operator (like DB in Germany, SNCF in France or RENFE in Spain) and new privately owned operators (many are operated by other countries national operators, but not all). Italy was one of the first adopters (in Sweden it exists for much longer, even before the EU decision) but this now works all over. In Spain OUIGO (low cost brand of the French SNCF) and AVLO (the new low cost brand of the national Spanish operator RENFE) compete on a few lines and in November they will be joined by IRYO (owned by Trenitalia, Italy's national opertaor, and Air Nostrum, a Spanish airline working that operates the regional flights for IBERIA). In France Italo, the private competitor of Trenitalia in Italy, operates a line from Paris to Milan, FlixTrain operates trains in Germany and Sweden and more. This is possible only when the network itself is owned by the government.
3. For a good intercity train service you must have a good local public transport service.
You've covered excellent points that highlight the fact that North America will never catch up with Europe. The USA, in particular, fell out of love with passenger trains in the 1950s. While Brightline is a great idea, I wish it success for as long as it is able to operate.
@@Eurobazz
"You've covered excellent points that highlight the fact that North America will never catch up with Europe. "
Nothing to catch up with, population density of Italy is 201 people per square km, in the USA ours is 37.
HSR won't be justified here for a long time. We use aircraft instead, in North America and Australia.
"The USA, in particular, fell out of love with passenger trains in the 1950s"
Well yes, because cars were widely available, thus rending shorter distance trains obsolete outside of rush hour, and airline flight was becoming widely available, thus rendering high speed trains obsolete (at our typical intercity distances).
". I can get on the fast train in my city 2 minutes before it's departure and I don't seat around in the station waiting for it."
Are you talking about HSR? If you go to TripAdvisor most people say you should get to the HSR station 30 minutes ahead of departure.
Amtrak in the USA also suggests 30 minutes ahead.
Airlines start boarding 30 minutes before takeoff.
The local train between San Francisco and San Jose, which is not "high speed" since it's only 50 miles, sure I get on there two minutes before departure. Totally different situation.
" An 18 month closure is not "a brief pause""
Covid, ever heard of it? The public transit buses here in Silicon Valley were restricted to 9 people per bus at one point. Public transit in the USA has still not recovered its previous ridership. It's getting closer but not quite there. A lot of people only have to come in the office three days a week.
"For a good intercity train service you must have a good local public transport service."
And also high enough population density to justify it (EU and Japan have it, USA, Canada and Australia do not) and the distance between cities can't be too far apart.
Private rail ain't so bad. A lot less bureaucracy political bickering over what gets built.
Also public/private partnerships can add an addition means of funding and expansions.
Brightline is privately owned but not privately funded. They get both cash subsidies and indirect subsidies in the form of real estate that they sell for cash.
@@TohaBgood2 every industry gets subsidized, and giving land to railroads is far from anything new. (Its literally how the intercontinental railroad got paid for)
I think that once they get the rest of their expansions built (or atleast the Orlando connection done) they will be self sustaining. (And if not the externalities of the train like decreased highway congestion may be seen as too important by the state of Florida to let the train die, which could lead to subsidies for the company to keep them solvent and operational.)
@@jasonreed7522 Yes, that is all correct. Some of the best rail transportation systems in the world are funded like that. Just look at the Japanese Shinkansen, or the Hong Kong metro rail system. Or, the most extensive rail network in the world, the US freight network!
Subsidizing your rail transportation via real estate is nothing new and perfectly viable. But it is a subsidy! You are giving a private company an asset or expanding their rights to an asses (zoning increase) in exchange for rail service. The company turns around and immediately sells what the government gave them for cash.
That’s my problem with this. All of these people are pretending or directly saying that “Brightline never received subsidies”. That is complete nonsense! Brightline is exists exclusively because of subsidies. There is no Brightline without government intervention! It is a creature of the state if Florida justblike Tri-rail, or any other state rail service, or Amtrak.
BTW, no, Brightline never plans on making money from actual tickets. Look at their prospectus. They are only ever planning on making money off real estate. The entire rail operation is just a loss-leader to sell condos. Brightline says so themselves!
The issue is that it's great now, but over time it'll become profit-minded and services will reduce, and prices will increase. Especially if that route doesn't have good train competitors. It's what happened in the UK, now on a national level our train travel is generally a mix of private companies which are expensive and not always well integrated with each other or other public transportation (esp in terms of tickets and flexibility)
The extension north from West Palm Beach to Cocoa is NOT being built on the right of way of I-95.
Quite true being built on the upgraded existing Florida East Coast RR right of way up to Cocoa THEN using mostly Hwy 528 route new build to Orlando.
@@kennethhanks6712 AND because of this you still have the same problem as in the West Palm Miami leg: frequent grade crossings which limit the speed (and increase probability of incidents.) AFTER the track turns to the east west leg does the rail become 'high speed' due to no grade crossings and the track completely fenced and or elevated. The north south leg is classed as 'higher speed' no 'high speed' and these are legal terms with regard to speeds possible for safety reasons.
A decent amount of Japan’s trains are privatized and they are absolutely spectacular. The government should’ve never gotten the majority control of railway/train services, the government can’t run anything right.
The biggest problem Brightline will face is revenue. They're putting a lot of money into expansion, but they're definitely not filling trains with riders. Sure, some people ride it, but it's not financed through anything other than investment and sales. If those can't cover costs, it will degrade until it shuts down.
I feel like the Orlando expansion will make up the money. Especially if it will be cheaper, faster, and more convenient than cars, more people will most likely choose Brightline than driving cars; especially for tourists.
Give it time. Exhausting gridlock, sky-high gas prices, choked, inconvenient airports and peaceful, stress-free travel can be big motivators.
An then, hopefully nationalization?
A very real concern, and while I don't have any insider information what I've heard as a local is that their long term goal is to pursue a mixed revenue stream like Japanese rail companies - basically using real estate and rail developments to increase the profit of both. If they'll pull it off is the real question though, and it seems like a toss up still at this point.
@@mercurialjove460 Yeah that'll suck....
I'm in Fayetteville NC. There were some pamphlets in the Amtrak station talking about implementing regional state rail. This was 2007. Like regional rail from Wilmington to Fayetteville to Charlotte to Asheville. It would've open the state to a large amount of people who would prefer rail if it was available.
The reason why North Carolina is a good candidate for this plan, is because of how populations are distributed throughout the state.
IMO regional rail are more viable in the former 13 colonies than the midwest due to the dense development/ expansion. even amtrak's own best corridor are in that "segment" where there's still more people density compare to the midwest.
i think if you overlay the old rail corridors and their account books, it could say the same story.
@@PrograError Did I mentioned anything about the Midwest in my comment? Anyway, it only has been very recently that THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA seen growth. And it was not by accident, but a plan that was concocted by regional planners of that time.
By the way, CHICAGO; the state of Illinois has the largest amount of rail going through it. And it happens to be the Midwest region. So please save it!😡
Brightline sounds like a model for how California HSR should operate once open
Absolutely not. California HSR is actually going to be a lot better than bright line, problem is private contractors and the corruption that comes with them ruin every large scale project, so it's gonna take forever to get there.
@@macgobhann8712 CHSR is never getting done. Funny enough, government officials in CA need to be investigated for fraud. 105 BILLION DOLLARS, and not 1 inch of track.
@@macgobhann8712 a lot better in year of our lord 2453 when its finished
@@macgobhann8712 it cant be better, if it doesnt get build. Meanwhile brightline is busy hiring 11.000 construction workers to start construction of brightline west. This route will go from las vegas to rancho cucamonga, and is expected to be operational before the 2028. i am from europe and i have a good laugh at americans who dont undersstand a thing about rail in genera, let alone high speed rail. Brightline is doing things right and make the trains actually operational. Do you know that there where a lot of compromises in florida in terms of speed, i will give you an example : FEC and GRADE CROSSINGS. 1st FEC.. brightline in florida shares tracks with FEC meaning that it needs to compromise on FREQUENCY. 2nd GRADE CROSSINGS : because of the grade crossings the FRA has set a limited speed wich is another compromise. THIS is the whole reason why it is very dissapointing for americans. But people like you can not even see the positives about this. People DO take the train, wich means less congestion on the road wich is one of brightlines goals wich they slowly achieve, california because of brightline trains running makes 2 billion in extra yearly revenue. another fact : WHEN and IF CAHSR gets build and OPERATIONAL brightline west is going to use these tracks aswell to serve parts of california. Its people like you who dont understand how complicated it is to build ANYTHING in the USA. if one company is doing things right, its brightline. even under harsh USA laws and regulations. I come from the netherlands, we in our country recently have made a normal line between utrecht and amsterdam, quess how long it took from concept to completion ?.. within a year. it is now operational and running flawlessly. Your system is highly corrupt and innefective. at least brightline makes things work!.. Cant say that much from CAHSR. sorry to burst your bubble.
I wish instead of just going towards Tampa which is another sprawling city they also went towards Atlanta who at least has a decent MARTA network.
Could be in the future, who knows
Good video and very astute observations. Liked your comments on the view held by many when it comes to funding for Amtrak. No one complains about roads not turning a profit, but they want rail to do so. However, roads are "public" while much of the actual rail is "private" (owned by freight companies) - that may need to change for public rail travel to succeed.
It will be nice when Brightline not only goes to Tampa, but Jacksonville as well.
Would be pretty cool if we had a Brightline style service in Texas. San Antonio to Waco is 4 metro areas lined up next to each other with a combined population a little less than Greater Miami.
used to live in Texas along time ago and I noticed that San Antonio has really grown in population so it would be nice if they had a reliable train service from San Antonio to Austin at least. It could make one stop in New Braunfels on the way. There could be a lot of tourists and students that would need to ride it
Amtrak really should put a brightline-style model to work in the Hiawatha corridor in Illinois and Wisconsin. Seeing as it's only 86 miles currently between Milwaukee and Chicago, I think frequency would totally take this service to the next level.
While it's an advance in US terms, compared with Europe and South-East Asia it's decades behind, for the following reasons: Brightline shares some track with freight trains; Brightline tracks have level crossings; Brightline uses diesel locomotives; Brightline's highest speed will be only 125mph.
Yes, yes, yes!!!
I read an article somewhere that said that Brightline plans on running 150 mph trains on the Tampa to Orlando stretch whenever it opens. It might not be Europe or Japan level speeds, but it's a start.
I live in Austria 🇦🇹 we drive to work by train. It is great for Florida to have Brightline.
I'm sorry I LOL'd at the idea that Amtrak will take over brightlines infrastructure. Considering all the money the money that has been invested into building the infrastructure plus brightlines ambitions to be a nationwide rail alternative to Amtrak it's simply not happening and I pray that it never comes close to happening. There needs to be more competition when it comes to rail services instead having one service monopolizing the entire country.
Especially when the service is at the mercy of whichever politicians are in office (Republicans would probably defund it!)
@@edwardmiessner6502 What are you even talking about? My comment is simply stating that Amtrak acquiring brightline is a comical idea and furthermore having 2 separate competing services is an overall net win for consumers.
Yeah opening up the market for competition is what's happening in Europe, and it's booming 💹
@@OBSMProductions meanwhile in the UK, privatisation has wrecked our railways
As someone who's been on European trains and brightline, coach in both is great, cleaner on brightline
I live in Massachusetts and our MBTA Commuter Rail service, while decently accomplishing its main purpose of public transport, leaves lot to be desired. Old carriages from the 70s, underfunded services, and slow travel times in relation to the importance of a city like Boston. It would be great to even have hand-me-downs from Amtrak once they retire their current diesel engines that run in New England.
You can take tri-rail from Fort Lauderdale to West Palm
We really need this in the Midwest. Many of us travel more than thirty miles to work and cost and traffic can only improve from here.
Yup, I drive 42 miles to work. Not far from Omaha. It's crazy.
Its unsustainable in most of the US.The density isn't there to support good transit. If your city is 4 blocks of office buildings surrounded by single family homes with quarter acre yards for miles the only way to fix it is to upzone and rebuild from the middle out - in which case you'd want to move closer to your job anyway.
@@LrdZanny
well, the type of housing is irrelevant. We just don't have the population to have the same population density as Europe.
Our population density in the USA is 37 per square km.
In Italy it's 201 per square km.
Europe has 700 million people in the same space that we only have 300 million.
So until the 1000 years have passed that Europe had to grow their population....HSR is not justified.
What you can justify is "higher speed rail", average 90 mph as opposed to the typical 35 mph. Basically Higher Speed Rail means make any upgrades you can short of buying more private land to create another "right of way". Improve signaling, put better barriers for grade crossings or eliminate the crossings, put an extra railroad track in there at specific places so you can go around freight trains, etc.
@@neutrino78x when you state the population density United States is 37 per square KM that does not give the whole picture
such as are you figuring the countryside in your computation. The United States has many big cities with high density they’ve grown rapidly specially Florida many people moved there from New York City, Boston and many other cities.
@@enjoyslearningandtravel7957
"The United States has many big cities with high density they’ve grown rapidly specially Florida many people moved there from New York City, Boston and many other cities."
We sure do, and all those cities have public transit. We have public transit connect San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland too, two major train systems (Caltrain and BART). I am by no means against it.
But when you say "replace aviation with trains" that has to include going from one dense area to another, ok. And in the USA they're VERY far apart. Manchester is less than 200 miles from London, but New York is NOT less than 200 miles from Chicago. It's 800 miles, and that would take HSR at least four hours and be very expensive to construct, and therefore a waste of money because a jet can fly it half the time.
Should we improve the speed of existing public transit trains between those areas? Absolutely. Just don't spend 100 billion on it, that's not justified when the private sector has it covered and does a MUCH better job.
HSR struggles to find an application here in the USA and also Canada and Australia. In the dense areas, you don't need it because the cities are close together and even a 90 or 100 mph train would be fine, and going from one dense area to another, it's not useful because the distance is too great.
The way we do it is fine....public transit for cities within a dense area like The Bay Area or the NEC, aviation for travel between those areas.
Brightline has free transfers to / from the major airports and cruise terminals.
As far as I’m aware, you only need the 2 hour advanced reservation if you specifically want the Tesla ride.
I think Brightline's business model is wrong. The company shouldn't be providing free taxis and airport style waiting rooms. Remove these frills and increase the service to half-hourly.
@@Eurobazz maybe if they will increase the service to every 30 minutes when the Orlando portion starts and they have more riders.
I would like to see the Piedmont train extended down to Wilmington. That can help unlock more potential for tourist coming to the beach. We just finished a new bus terminal near the new proposed station sight to get people too and from the station
To each his/her own opinion. But it seems to be working so far, and looks promising with that extension to Orlando. This is what they should have done in Texas instead of that bullet train project, which seems pretty dead and buried nowadays.
They won the legal battle for use of eminent domain. Also settling for what Brightline settled for doesn’t change the face of American High Speed Rail. This is basically just a train.
@@banksrail Don't exactly get your point. Bullet trains like Texas Central's proposal are...well trains too. And that hyperloop stuff was never meant to exist either.
@@that90skid72 This is conventional train that already exist in America. What separates it from a random commuter railroad. Heck, there are commuter railroads that run faster than these trains. What Texas Central and CAHSR are doing is actually progressing America into the 21st century.
@@banksrail Yeah but America commuter and intercity network is very poor. It better that America strengthens conventional rail network and have normal rail.
Because no country except China and maybe Japan that has HSR focused rail network.
@@natenae8635 Uderstandable. But, that puts projects like Texas Central in a separate league than Brightline. They aren’t comparable. That’s why I compare it to an average commuter train.
This was a really well made video, and I hope you get the attention you deserve for it!
I took a commuter train from Amsterdam to Brussels while working in Europe. It was old and noisy and made so many stops. At the stations the loud speakers were set to max and you could not even have a mobile conversation. The stations did not have lounges so I would say this looks to be levels above what most routes in Europe are like.
You are comparing apples and oranges here. A commuter train is meant to make many stops and is not comparable to an inter-city train. Also there is so much train travel in Europe, these airport style lounges would be impractical
@@donnerwetter1905 Yes I know but Brighline is basically a commuter train. He makes it sound like al trains in Europe are superior and that is not true. I have also rode the Eurostar from London to Paris and back, it wasn’t anything special and no perks at all that I saw unless I missed them.
@@asquithmainlines699 Brightline is inter-city rail. They are also planning commuter rail, but it is not becoming a reality before 2024. Stations like these would be impractical with commuter rail, as commuter rail has much more stations and many more passengers. The German S-Bahn or the French RER is commuter rail. The ICE, TGV or Eurostar are inter-city trains. They are also high speed, which makes them superior to those Brightline trains, which are made by Siemens, which is a European company btw. You can search for Berlin central station on yt. That station is superior to any Brightline station.
@@donnerwetter1905 I have been to the Hard Rock Cafe in Berlin but we were driving. Have you rode the high speed trains in Japan? From what I have heard they set the standard. Defiantly on my bucket list. Canada has the Rocky Mountaineer that runs between Vancouver to Jasper and or Banff, it is a tourist train but one of the best. When I travel I prefer a One Ton Duramax and slide in Camper, home on wheels. Best part is when you see something interesting you can stop and check it out. Neither a train or plane offers that option.
@@asquithmainlines699 Japan has separated tracks for HSR and the other trains, which gives them an advantage. Here in Europe all the trains, inter-city, commuter and cargo are sharing the same tracks. That makes operation a much bigger challenge. With low passenger numbers and tourist orientation you can do different things. There 5700 train stations in Germany alone. Keeping them all in good shape is not so easy. Brightline does operate only a handful of stations.
Rail in the US, even though its inefficient, and never even goes to where you want it to. Is still so fun to travel on.
There's so many upsides to it. As someone in the Denver Metro, I've taken the Commuter Rail system to Denver a couple times. And it's just such a nice experience. It's faster (They go from like 55-80mph). And you get to see scenery while not dealing with traffic.
It's also better for the environment, because they use electric lines.
Such a shame that the US, even when we try to build highspeed rail *cough cough California*, we are not able to due to lack of funding and unsupportive politicians saying it's a waste of money and taxpayer dollars. Then we go spend billions on Automotive infrastructure.
Agree with just about everything except for wanting Amtrak to take it over. That's about the worst possible scenario. Maybe Amtrak can learn from Brightline and copy their business model - perhaps first along the Piedmont route.
Amtrak already does copy their business model, it's run like a privately owned company, and that's one of the biggest reasons why it's failing.
@@macgobhann8712 No, they don't. They know they will stay operational as long as there is a willing Congress who continously throws money into their bottomless pit. If they were like a real business, they would cut useless employees and be incentivied to try to turn a profit.
Brightline is absolutely amazing, I use it fairly frequently between WPB and MIA, and I can’t wait for Orlando!
USA prefers and glorifies individualism over social benefit, so USA will never have decent public services (public transportation, healthcare...) like Europe has.
But Americans also love American Exceptionalism especially in its military prowess and in its law and order. Which means despite not having the decent public and social services Europe has we'll pay just as much in taxes, except for large corporations and the rich.
This is true. It's why we spend trillions in tax dollars on car infrastructure.
Had not Amtrak been chronically underfunded it may well have already been servicing key sectors with high quality, high frequency, fast passenger trains. I'm sure other potential private operators are watching Brightline very closely. If Brightline is a success other operators are sure to copy it elsewhere. If Amtrak don't, or are not allowed to get in on servicing the profitable sectors with a premium service, they will be left with the sectors that the private operators won't touch
The US needs to place the ownership and maintenance of the permanent way in the hands of a public/private company away from the likes of BNSF, CSX etc. This will allow for track upgrades after which Amtrak can operate at faster speeds and not be affected by freight trains. It will be a more level playing field. Is this likely to happen, of course not.
Amtrak has had plenty of funding, they wasted it.
@@tonyburzio4107 No they don't. Their funding is miniscule compared to how much we spend on air and car travel.
@@Eurobazz That is theft of billions of dollars worth of private infrastructure. If they did, they better compensate the companies by buying it all and the land it is on at current market price. I will support forcing the companies to cooperate with Amtrak and not being actively hostile towards passenger rail (Looking at you CSX). Also in Europe, they have too many trucks on the road and not as much freight rail. If you make the rail mostly passenger, then you have lots more traffic and pollution than reduced due to trucks and lots of freight moved to the road.
I wonder, does it provide disabled access, say for a person in a wheelchair or mobility vehicle ?
Yes. The accessibility is insanely good. Full level boarding with dedicated seats for people in wheelchairs. Even the bathrooms are fully wheelchair accessible
@@BENCOINTERNATIONAL Many thanks for your update. That is really good news.
@@magicalucem3034 they also have elevators instead of just escalators and stairs. I’ve been in one of the stations.
That entire train/futuristic railroad gives me a GO! Transit vibe tbqh. Didn't even know it existed until i discovered this train in Orlando. But it's possibly one of the most cleanest, & distinctive trains in the USA.
I was actually in the Raliegh-Cary area over the weekend and used Amtrak to get there from Florida. I'm SUPER excited for Brightline because my Amtrak experience SUUUCKED. But it sucked in a "Not Amtrak's fault" Kinda way. I could just tell that they were under-staffed, under-funded, and under-supported. The trains were still packed. So there IS a demand for inter-city/state rail in the US.
Once Brightline gets hooked up to Orlando it's going to be a ground-zero for how much it's going to used. There's a tone of people who in Orlando that are 'From' other parts of the state who moved for business, retirement, and schooling. Going from South Florida to Orlando via rail will be a huge boon for a lot of them. On top of that, the planed expansion to Disney will greatly benefit a lot of people in the city, because it's going to be much easier to hop on Brightline than having to fight the Mad Max experience that is I-4 and Disney parks. I hope Orlando sees the Boon from this and starts to expand the Sun Rail, get an East-West going. Plz.
I can’t wait until brightline gets to Orlando. I would love to do a weekend beach getaway to south Florida without the stress of driving or expense of flying.
have you seen the projected prices for the orlando miami trip? ya may as well fly!
Damn congrats on getting this video to pop off! You deserve it! Hope to see a mix of content about transit around the country and local developments back in Raleigh.
Highly interesting report about a highly interesting service. That said, what's the point of beating cars in terms of speed between Miami and West Palm Beach if you have to arrive 1/2 hour or more ahead of departure because of stupid airline-style stuff like check-in, security checks, lounges, boarding etc.? Seen from Europe, Broghtline looks very promising for the future of passenger rail travel in the USA (at least in Florida) but, if they want it to be competitive against car travel and to be a real train service, they'll need to drop the airline-style fuss. Let people who really want to enjoy a lounge, snack, drink, enjoy it if they want but please don't impose the fuss of airports on all rail travelers. Other than that, thumbs up for this very bright line!
I am glad it is there. I can fly into MCO and go to a cruise in Miami. I dont drive since I am disabled.
The reason that the private operators are doing this is *because* the government is too stingy and cheap or the government-run systems are too incompetent to do so on their own.
With the added security at airports, and the other hassles of air travel, it is surprising how far people will drive.
I live in Chicago. My wife worked for a company based in Cincinnati. After 9/11, many of my wife's co-workers starting driving to Cinci for business trips. It was just as fast as flying, if you have to get to the airport 90 to 120 minutes before departure.
Even if high-speed rail existed, I bet people would still drive, simply because they control their schedules.
This is probably why the private sector is skittish of putting money into high-speed passenger rail.
I think it’s debatable. A lot People may drive at first because that’s what they’re used to but then comes people who don’t care to or are scared to drive. People who simply don’t *want* to drive and depending on time and also if trains become more normalized.
There's different types of commutes people make, so it depends but having the option would be more freeing. Places with efficient rail have trains every 5 or 30 mins so that would make it way more flexible.
They drive so much because they don't have other options
@@kjb3221 yes I like to travel but I hate driving in a car on the express way. I will definitely take the train when it comes to Orlando.
@@enjoyslearningandtravel7957 I used to go to college downtown and even during rush hour it was way faster than driving or even taking the bus. 7 minutes subway vs 45 mins (on a good day) by car.
While it's a nice idea of having a train being treated as public transportation, keep this in mind it has to be supported by fees and taxes from the public who uses it. Much like the road maintenance is supported by taxes and fees, public transportation such as train has to be treated as such. You want private? Private will charge you. Either way you get gouged. Nothing is free, nothing.
The difference between public and private is the while the user is the one that, theoretically, fully pays for the service when it's private so only those who can pay for it can use it a public service is usually paid by a regressive tax, so those who have more pay more than those who have less and it is available for all who needs it.
In a basic service like transport when people need it to make a living it must be available to all.
That said many private services are actually financed by both their users and the taxpayer as they get "intensives", tax reductions, they pay unlivable wages, so the public finance aid for those workers who cannot afford a house, food, education, health and have a hard time paying for a car they need to get this low paying job.
Road maintenance costs a lot of money but it also helps the economy to function and grow but it is a very limited and the least efficient way for large amounts of people to travel. An investment in public transport to provide local and intercity transport with a good, reliable and affordable service will creepiness the ability of people to find work, improve the movement of people and increase the economic growth far more than what it will cost to build and maintain.
I know many Americans don't like to do it but look at other countries - they have far better lives than you. They live longer, healthier, with more time to be with their families and relax and they have better education than you. Yes, they pay more taxes but when you calculate the cost and quality of the services they get for those higher taxes vs what you privately pay for a far worst level of similar service you end up paying much more.
Not only that but Japan's rail companies own real estate around stations and end up turning a profit anyway from renting, so having transport isn't just about the ticket price.
I wonder if there are any lessons Amtrak can take from Bright Line and use in their current and future routes? As far as private vs. public, I know what you mean, but I think most local, regional and national rail lines started out as private entities, so maybe that’s just the way the US rolls. The one good thing about Bright Line being high end is that it may help raise the reputation of intercity train travel in the US.
Brightline is a lot more subsidized than Amtrak. That’s basically the entire difference. Amtrak was at breakeven before the pandemic. And this despite the fact that Amtrak is required by Congress to run extremely unprofitable long distance trains. The only reason they’re not bankrupt yet is because the Northeastern Corridor and their intercity lives are very profitable.
Brightline gets direct cash subsidies, real estate deals that they sell for cash, and even their bonds are subsidized by the government. Brightline basically sells condo to pay for a loss-leader train that they use to sell more condos.
We could implement this same system for Amtrak tomorrow and subsidize it to the same level, but the Republicans won’t allow for that to happen.
Los Angeles has had it's own transportation system regarding rail for over 30 plus years. Intercity as well as extending beyond the county of Los Angeles.
Still not enough, especially for a city that will be hosting the Olympics in 2028.
At least half a million visitors from overseas will be coming to the city, plus a million domestic tourists or more, as shown in 2012 and 2016. How do you get to bring them all to the Olympic venues when they're not even connected to the urban rail network?
LA has enough time and money to build a lot more than what is on the table.
Yeah but LA for its size has done a poor job. Although the can recover most likely. I think the sprawling nature of LA I’d what hurt it’s public transport
@@ianhomerpura8937 New transit projects usually are ridiculously expensive. LA is building what it can with the money that is available-which is substantial.
@@ianhomerpura8937 LA doesnt have the money
to say that it does missunderstands what LA is
They gotta expand to north fl fr we struggling up here 😭
Very well made video! As an avid Brightline fan (and as someone who just rode it for similar purposes about a month ago), you hit every nail in terms of benefits and possible flaws. Although rail transport _should_ be financed as a commodity like it is in Europe, the U.S. became terminally car brained and continues to give significantly more funding to inefficient highways and leaves Amtrak enough pennies to run one train a day in regions that used to see 12. I believe the Northeast Regional (and maybe the Acela or Keystone) is the only Amtrak service that runs at least one train per hour, which leaves other routes to board trains at inconvenient times of the day which therefore makes them unattractive. Although I am concerned by the fundamental goal for profit by the private sector, Brightline is still given much more funding than any federal or state government ever will, which gives them the means to run frequent service with high quality for most and with room to expand, and I would never want that to be taken over by an overextended federally funded rail authority that takes forever to complete the bare minimum in service expansion. Also, Brightline is not using the cost cutting measures that private freight railroads utilize (PSR), and they are NOT an example of franchising (bidding wars between multiple foreign companies, but that's a complicated matter in its own right). Overall, great video and I wish Brightline the best of luck as it's privately financed funding model is what North America needs to get people back on board.
Looking forward to the Orlando extension next year
It's difficult to imagine that as recently as the time of our grandparents (or parents for some of us) private rail travel in the US was pretty much the top of the mark, with railroads and even specific trains competing for luxury, timeliness, speed, food, and more. Unfortunately we could never recreate that golden age of passenger rail simply because there is almost no way for a private entity to get the land and rights of way needed to establish a new line, much less re-establish many old lines. And it would be prohibitively expensive for government to do it in the current age of cutting government services (just the legal battles over obtaining the necessary land would be never-ending). If the FEC Railroad didn't already own the current route, Brightline wouldn't exist. The original FEC passenger service died in the 1960s, so I honestly hope they can keep it running today - and into tomorrow.
Interesting. Actually, passenger rail was all private enterprise operations less than 100 years ago, except for subways and such.
I do wonder how much of this is subsidized.
None of Brightline is subsidized lol that's why it's private
CTA and the NYC subways were still mostly private into the 1970s, they were built with private investment too. Ofcourse they were taken over as municipal because of a mix of how railroads were treated by the gov and the reduced ridership because the cities were awful.
@@connecticutmultimodaltrans8226 That's not true at all. Brightline asks for and receives both cash subsidies and indirect subsidies in the form of real estate that they sell for cash. It's privately owned, but not privately funded! Look it up!
Rail was privately owned, but not privately funded. In fact, the rail companies received tons of land subsidies in exchange for subsidized passenger service. They were only able to con Congress into removing those covenants after they all went bankrupt in the 70s!
Brightline similarly is merely privately owned. The state still subsidizes it both directly with cash and via preferential land deals which Brightline sells for cash. Their rail service is a loss leader that they use to sell condos. It's almost completely subsidized by the taxpayer.
@@TohaBgood2 Yup, I distinctly remember learning about the massive grants in land and funding that the US government Gabe to private rail companies in the gilded age. Maybe these people just didn't pay attention in class? Also, this is also why the USs, private freight rail companies are the only ones left standing, and are actually quite advanced compared to the rest of the world. It's a lot more profitable to move material than it is people, turns out.
A big piece of brighline's business model is that they still own substantial real estate holding in the center of pretty much every south Florida city from the days of Flagler and are developing those out as well.
I'm very excited for Charlotte's new station to open, still a couple years away. I'd love to see the Piedmont have hourly trips, 3 a day just doesn't cut it
North American rail will never be fully grade separated as they run on freight tracks.
Japan has tons of private rail lines, and America historically was almost all private rail lines.
How can a private company can get build infrastructure, operate a great service with modern trains and nice stations (it looks world class!), have ancillary ones with bike rentals and fleet of cars and vans, and still make a profit (I mean, free champagne?!) and expand? It looks like a perfect company! I'd love to know more about the people behind this story.
The fact that they blow the horn as it goes thru every crossing up the coast has created an audio nightmare for anyone who lives anywhere near of the many crossings. All day long early and late.
Yeah that is one thing I don't get about people who say Amtrak needs to make money they cannot make money along they have the long distance roots so the only way for them to make money is just to eliminate the long distance roots but that would not be good so honestly it shouldn't even matter
Politicians don't want to invest much in intercity rail..So we should be thankful that a private company is willing to invest in it. As far as electrification, that may come with battery locomotives. Catenary is ridiculously expensive.
Having ridden both tri rail and brightline I have to say I agree with most of this video. Although since I was curious I wanted to find out the top speed of tri rail which does reach 79 mph. It does go slower because it has alot more stops. The brightline stations and train are beautiful and definitely give a premium feel over tri rail. Although I do prefer tri rail because of it affordability and flexibility. Mainly you can show up at the station, get a ticket and ride for the same price. Whereas with brightline there is a penalty for booking less than 2 days before your trip. Although I have though about doing what you said, namely getting a premium ticket and getting my moneys worth in food and alcohol 😅.
Brightline is fine for now because it's mostly a novelty. But if it ever became a necessity for commuting it will be a disaster, just like privatised rail in the UK has been a disaster.
Amtrak should annex it
I'm not seeing a correlation between Brightline and the ersatz privatization of British Rail. You may wish to elucidate.
You're comparing apples to oranges...In the UK it all went belly up because of a series of factors (crumbling infrastructure, trains straight from the 50s....). Privatization went way too far (signals and tracks were privatized in different entities too), it was a totally botched job. Govt in the UK had to intervene and take back control of the tracks and signals (which is now known as Network Rail). That has nothing to do with current day Brightline, which is meant for business travelers and tourists, mostly. For commuters you already have the Tri Rail service, which works fine as well in the exact same area as brightline. Now what could be interesting would be for Amtrak and Brightline to compete on identical routes, that would be a great possibility, and would provide something seen in Europe (historical main rail operator competing with other private ones). Such a system has proven to work well until now. When Brightline opens their nearly completed segment to Orlando, that will be a game changer.
@@that90skid72 Very well stated. One slight correction: Tri-Rail runs along the western edge of cities served, Brightline runs through the middle of the downtowns.
Railways in UK has been never “privatized”. They were private when they got built at first, then gvm has stolen everything.
However when latent “privatization” came the effectiveness of the railways has risen more than 50% and after nationalization degrades at fast rate, so fast as costs increase for NetworkRail.
It was a huge success even so it’s not a real privatization
I 100% agree with the private/public difference. I also think that if rail transport is privately owned, it will only be seen and used if it gives profit to the company itself. I would believe that if Brightline is not gaining any money from the trains, it wont benefit them in any way and could lead to changes, modifications or even closing it. While being a public rail system, its not seen as a profit thing, but as utility, that benefits the population. but i do think that, Brightline is doing great on its own as a private rail company in Florida, and joining it to a public nation-wide rail system such as Amtrak would lead to it being left behind and in way worse conditions than it is now with Brightline. Idk tho
I'm on a keto diet, do they offer anything in premium coach other than beer, soda, chips and cookies,? I can't eat any of that stuff. The only perk for me in premium is getting to sit alone, as I am an introvert,😐.
When service to Orlando starts, they should serve something more substantial. Full breakfast in the morning, soup and sandwich at lunch, meatloaf and fried chicken around dinner. For $100 one way, I want a meal. Lol.
Watch some of the other Brightline videos, I saw more than chips and cookies such as salads and some other vegetarian things.
Actually, MORE private transit should be allowed (the government gets in the way), exactly like it was during the Victorian Era when those now government owned lines were built. The government inherited what private business built and they have done a horrible job maintaining and expanding the systems. Bring back PRIVATE COMPETITION!!!
The stretch from melbourne to orlando is one track but they left room for 2 tracks. I'm guessing they might do this to vegas
The thing is. The United States federal government never really had a national mass transit system, ever. You can say in some retrospect that Amtrak is the national mass transit system, but the company itself is just a semi quasi government/federal funded company. Means they do get a certain amount of government funding but technically the rest is up to Amtrak itself. The federal government does throw money at them for infrastructure improvements ( only on the Northeast corridor that Amtrak actually owns). They will also use some of that money on improvements to the trains themselves but not much. Also for the brightline and it bring privates company. Remember during the golden age of rail travel in the US, all thoses companies where private companies during that time. The United States will never see a national mass transit system, and that just goes back to how the nation is governed ultimately. It's up to the States, cities, and municipalities for their mass transit systems. I mean the US can attempt an national mass transit system but it will be extremely difficult to pull off with a crap ton of red tape and a huge amount of resources. In all honesty, for the US to see a large scale mass transit system, the best bet would be the private sector.
If the US built the interstate system then it can build a national passenger rail system. The lack of political will is the problem.
This is quite literally the GO train in Toronto, just slower and has older cars but MUCH cheaper. Also the GO train isn't privatized.
What’s the hatred for private compared to the deplorable service of Amwreck. Amwreck would destroy Brightlines charm. Long distance they are needed not intercity. You complain about lack of service where there could be ridership try growing up on Long Island with the worst train service out east.
Your conclusions really amaze me. Brightline offers a great service and you have really done a great job at showing what a fantastic addition it is the the south Florida area. You have also spoken about the dreadful situation of Amtrak with its old trains. It looks like you are just not joining the dots. Brightline is a great service because there is a great incentive in offering a reliable and trustworthy service. This will eventually lead to a profit and it will allow the investors to make money and continue making more rail projects like this. You are asking for it to be public. There is a public system already. It's called trirail and it's not even close to that of brightline because it is public.
Don't try to destroy the only rail project that is working great in the USA just because you think it should be public.
Everything is better in Florida. Brightline is a success because it is a private company. Amtrak will never be anything but a boondoggle failure since it is effectively a Government Agency, despite being technically a Government chartered corporation. Brightline plan seems to be similar to Hong Kong MTR, a real estate company that also runs trains. MTR is a for profit company with majority Government owned shares. Keep in mind, MTR, and JR, started out as Government agencies and were privatized. Brightline is starting from the other end and will hopefully avoid the burden of Gov ownership.
Bitch, the NEC is fully electrified AND allows trains to travel up to 150 mph, 160 mph soon. And guess who runs the intercity services on that line? Amtrak! And what's even better? We don't have schmucks running into trains every so often because it's mostly grade separated!
They get a lot of free advertising to the cars waiting at at-grade crossings, watching a train blow by at 110mph
I regularly ride the Amtrak Capitol Corridor in NorCal. Would love to see some of these features along that line. Trains are often late and there are large gaps in the schedule. Better than nothing, like you said, but room for improvement!
THE TRAIN LOOKS COOL
While I applaud the efforts made by Brightline's owners, future permission to build suburban railways in the USA MUST include the necessity to have locomotives powered by overhead electricity using pantographs. It's just not in line with today's environmentally-conscious public to have diesel trains. Regarding the deaths at level crossings, there have been at least three generations of Americans who haven't grown up with train services. Apart from educating the masses, full barriers covering both sides of the road should be used to avoid drive-around incidents.
Some of the deaths are in quiet zones where trains aren't allowed to use horns or bells because hearing trains brings down property values.
@@ferky123 You cannot be serious!
"Death Train" at 5:40 ... makes me think they should paint a skull-and-crossbones on their locomotives.
Florida it the most amazing state in the USA!!! Many planned cities, with little public transportation and filled with old people! Florida has more drivers in their 90's than any other state! It should change its' motto to "Where you can drive with dementia!"
I took TriRail when I visited in 2017; at that point it was still better than most commuter rail I’ve taken. I’m curious how the two systems compare, aside from ownership/management. How different is their target customer base & service area? You highlighted some important distinctions between a customary public operation vs a private one, albeit probably for a limited time to develop a market.
One puzzling thing to me is why hasn’t Brughtlind put a station at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Intl Airport? The FEC tracks run right in front of the terminal!
I wish Virginia would adopt this concept
You're comparing roads and utilities to passanger trains is not a great ideal because the government doesn't operate your car they simply build the road. Also your argument in general sounds very socialist. You're essentially saying that even though the government has failed to produce good rail service in the US the best passanger train that is privately owned would be better if the government took it over? European style rails comes at massive expense to the taxpayers. And as California has proven even when you have 40% tax rate you still can't succeed in making good high speed rail in the US government.
I'm pulling for Brightline - I really am. But, every time you showed the inside of the train, all I saw was a bunch of empty seats. Ridership has to improve if they are to survive.
i have been on brightline two flaws i didnt like:
we went past FFL airport...why couldnt there be a station at the airport???!?
aaaand i stop at the cruise terminal would be VERY useful.
no stop anywhere near cocoa and Port Canaveral also seems poorly thought out . . .
Our US original railroads were all private. Too much competition and
the coming of the
interstate highway system
killed the private railroads.
Tri-Rail has the same 79 mph top speed, and has its fair share of grade crossing collisions, albeit less than Brightline (despite running more trains) because there are less grade crossings.
Privately owned Rail or any business don't have that get out of the failing hole like taxpayer owned systems like Amtrak or MTA. The risk for failure is excessively high. So those Privately own rail will go above and beyond to succeed and cater to customers. Taxpayer funded systems never have to worry about failure unless the policy says so. However since they depend on tax dollars and can get out of the legal trouble since who's gonna check the government? So there's no incentive to really cater the customer base. I'm born in and lived in New York City for many years and the MTA transit is inexcusably the most disappointing, disgusting, and dangerous in the country possibly the world for a first world country. Throwing money into a terrible system doesn't solve anything. Also to add the excessively Bureaucratic nightmare that the transit systems face also holds it back as well.
Until someone crosses it's path. Which seems to be more common as everyday passes.
Brightline wont work in Florida because people are in love with their cars here. You can go once or twice somewhere just to check it out (done that) but you are not going to WPB, Miami, Fort Lauderdale or Orlando without a car. Public transportation sucks, FL cities are not walkable and weather doesnt help
I live in Florida and yes I drive but I’m not in love with my car driving in heavy stressful traffic. As soon as the bright line in Orlando opens I’m going to use it to get to southern Florida.
Have you read the website about the train, but Brightline has its own shuttle vans to get to the station.
I was back in (one of my) old hometown(s) Vero Beach recently, to visit my sister, a recently retired city attorney who spent decades wrestling with ignorance and corruption - in other words, typical Florida politics. Vero Beach would have been mightily served by a Brightline stop, but the backwards among the city's population hated the idea of it coming through their town 32 times a day. So they fought it tooth and nail. They sued, they lost. So now they get the train going through, anyway, but no stop... which they could have had. And many of them are actually happy about that! (But what can say about a state that elected the criminal Rick Scott to governor twice and then the Senate?))
So basically an expensive and extremely ornate suburban train
Missed to comment and illustrate gap filler for Level Boarding Eliminating level crossing goo but elevated track is required Huge embankments are a disaster