By David Lyons, South Florida Sun Sentinel

Brightline trains started carrying their first paying passengers in more than a year on Monday as the company held high hopes that South Floridians and visitors will again use the rails for commuting and leisure travel.
The rail line, which halted its trains in March 2020 due to COVID-19, conducted a weeklong “soft opening” during the past week, reopening its downtown stations in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Miami, and road-testing its new ride service designed to carry customers between the trains and their homes, offices and entertainment destinations. 

Brightline President Patrick Goddard, Mayor Dean Trantalis and Broward County Vice Mayor Michael Udine were scheduled to appear at the Fort Lauderdale station to mark the reopening.   

The rail line’s resumption coincided Monday with the lifting of federal COVID restrictions on an international travel. The action applies to Canada, Mexico, and most of Europe, where foreign nationals have been eager to resume making trips to the U.S. after a layoff of more than 18 months.

The reopening of the international travel window is expected to yield benefits to Brightline, whose service reflects the style and speed of many rail networks in Western Europe, and is likely to appeal to visitors accustomed to frequent train travel in their home countries.

The company is offering a first ride for free through Dec. 31.

But if there were doubts that the public is warming up to train travel again, observers can look to Tri-Rail, the longtime commuter line that runs along the CSX rail line to the west of I-95 between Palm Beach County and Miami International Airport.

The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which operates the publicly subsidized line, announced the return of its full schedule late last month, one year after it was reduced due to ridership declines of 80% in March 2020. But Tri-Rail never halted service, and the line is back to a 50-train-per-day, 30-train-per-weekend schedule.

“Tri-Rail has had one of the best recoveries among commuter railroads in the country,” said Steven Abrams, the executive director.

Ride service appears

It remains unclear what type of challenge faces Brightline as it tries to recoup the business it lost. The company has spent heavily on a new local ride service and new amenities at its stations.

On Sunday, uniformed chauffeurs and iPad-toting “mobile ambassadors” roamed outside the front of Brightline’s Fort Lauderdale station slightly north of Broward Boulevard.

Brand new black SUVs and Tesla sedans bearing the Brightline name idled outside along with a small electric-powered bus. To the north of the station, a small fleet of loud-yellow company cars and vans formed up in a parking lot.

Depending on the vehicle type, passengers can get rides to and from destinations within a three- to five-mile radius of the station.

Those with longer distances to travel can rent a car at an Avis office inside a building that also houses a public parking garage on the station’s west side.

New bars, restaurants

Last Friday, the company unveiled a new sitdown bar called Mary Mary, which will serve riders at all three stations. The place is named for Mary Lily Kenan and Mary Harkness Flagler, who were both wives of Henry Flagler, founder of the Florida East Coast Railway, whose tracks are used by Brightline. The bar will serve an all-day breakfast as well as lunch and dinner.

The line has also installed an autonomous market dubbed MRKT at the stations, where customers can pick up snacks.

At the MiamiCentral station in Miami, riders will be greeted with a broad cross-section of restaurants. A cluster of eating spots dubbed as Citizens MiamiCentral include EllaMia, Umami Burger, Krispy Rice, Sam’s Crispy Chicken, Cicci di Carne, Sa’Moto by Chef Morimoto, La Estacion, Rosetta Bakery, Patagonia, Art de Vivre, and 800 Woodfired Kitchen.

 

 

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