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.