97 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

Palm Beach Post, West Palm Beach, FL, 12/15/17:

 

 

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Brightline’s Orlando extension wins federal approval

 

 

All Aboard Florida’s Brightline has won approval from federal transportation officials to extend its passenger rail service north to Orlando, clearing the way for the private rail venture to begin construction on its second phase connecting West Palm Beach and central Florida.

 

 

Update

[KevinKorell]

tcpalm.com  ,  12/15/17:

 

 

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All Aboard Florida could start Treasure Coast, Space Coast construction as soon as next month

 

 

 

All Aboard Florida said on Friday it will begin construction north of West Palm Beach early next year. 

 

The announcement follows two important financial developments.

 

Story

[KevinKorell]

The Real Deal, 12/16/17:

 

 

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Construction of Brightline link to Orlando to start in first quarter

 

 

All Aboard Florida expects in the first quarter of 2018 to start construction to extend its Brightline passenger rail service to Orlando and to launch service to Miami. The Federal Railroad Administration on Friday approved All Aboard Florida’s plan to link Orlando to its pending Brightline service in South Florida.

 

 

 

This story here.

[CNJRoss]

Palm Beach (FL) Post, 12/14/17:
 

State group to weigh $1.2 billion bond request for Brightline project

 

 

All Aboard Florida’s Brightline will ask a state financing group on Monday for permission to issue $1.15 billion in tax-exempt bonds to help pay for the construction of the second phase of its passenger-rail project connecting West Palm Beach to Orlando.

 

The Florida Development Finance Corp. has called an emergency meeting in Jacksonville to discuss Brightline’s request, a move that is drawing fire from opponents of the rail project who argue that the public hasn’t had enough time to review the bond issue. Opponents have also questioned why the Orlando-based finance corporation is holding the meeting two hours away in Jacksonville.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

Palm Beach (FL) Post, 12/16/17:
 

Brightline asks to cancel meeting on $1.2 billion bond request

 

 

All Aboard Florida’s Brightline has asked a state financing group to cancel an emergency meeting set for Monday to discuss the private rail venture’s request to sell $1.15 billion in tax-exempt bonds to pay for the second phase of its project connecting West Palm Beach to Orlando.

 

The Florida Development Finance Corp., a special financing unit created by the state Legislature in 1993 to help businesses and nonprofit groups finance capital projects that promote economic development, was scheduled to hear the request at a special meeting in Jacksonville.

 

“Brightline has asked FDFC to cancel the emergency meeting scheduled for Monday due to the House and Senate agreeing to a tax reform bill that preserves private activity bonds,” a company spokesperson said in a statement issued Saturday.

 

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 12/17/17:

 

 

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Feds approve Brightline express train extension between South Florida and Orlando

 

Getting from South Florida to Orlando could be faster now that the federal government has approved the next phase of Brightline’s high-speed passenger rail service that could begin construction early next year.

 

More

[CNJRoss]

TCPalm, Stuart, FL 12/22/17:
 

Brightline receives U.S. Department of Transportation approval for financing

 

 

Another crucial Phase 2 financing approval fell into place this week for Brightline.

 

The company announced Friday morning that the U.S. Department of Transportation approved the allocation of $1.15 billion of tax-free bonds for Phase 2 of the passenger railroad, between West Palm Beach and Orlando International Airport.

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

It is hard to believe that the thought is even still out there that service could still begin in 2017. It's December 24th, leaving only one week remaining in the year. If it was going to happen, advance notice would have gone out already about at least an advance run on New Years Eve, much as how New York City rolled out its Second Avenue Subway opening with an inaugural run on 12/31/16 and actual revenue service beginning 1/1/17. 

 

And really, Brightline is not at all what it was conceived to be, until the entire thing is built to Orlando.  Trips between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, or between Miami and West Palm Beach, were not even supposed to be possible as the intent was higher speed rail between the Orlando and Gold Coast areas.  As this progresses and construction works its way further north, more online cities are going to want a stop along this train, adding even more time to this trip.  But the initial Phase 1 opening, whenever that happens, will be nothing more than an expensive tourist train between two points already connected by their intersecting city bus systems. Getting commuters into the practice of using Brightline would be wrong, since eventually if they hold to original plans, they would lose that ability once the whole route is in place to Orlando.   That said, I hope TriRail can go through with its easterly route along the coast, to provide a means for those commuters to get between cities on the Gold Coast in lieu of Brightline.

[CNJRoss]

TCPalm, Stuart, FL 12/29/17:
 

Brightline begins service in two weeks, so is the railroad's expansion inevitable here?

 

 

Brightline trains will begin running scheduled passenger service within about two weeks. It's a milestone many on the Treasure Coast hoped they never would see.

 

Moreover, it's a development that brings extension of the railroad through the Treasure Coast and Space Coast even closer to reality. All Aboard Florida, Brightline's parent company, announced this month that construction on Phase 2 of the $3.1 billion project — from West Palm Beach to Orlando International Airport — would begin by March.

 

Continue here.

[jis]

I am sure TCPalm will publish an article about the non-inevitability of the service even after service starts to Orlando in a couple of years. LOL!

Edited by jis, 31 December 2017 - 01:54 PM.