Brightline should replace all of their trash cans at the stations with “smart” ones, which can compress the waste so there’s room for much more, and tell staff by itself, that it’s full and needs to be emptied!
From 1893 to 1895, Stuart was called Potsdam. This name was chosen by Otto Stypmann, originally from Potsdam, Germany. It was renamed Stuart in 1895, in honor of landowner Homer Hine (Jack) Stuart Jr, who owned 160 acres around the railway station. The St. Lucie River got its name from the Spanish. They first called the river, Rio de Santa Cruz, river of the Holy Cross, as the river is cross-like. Later, they re-christened the river Rio De Luz, river of light, for the lighting on the water is heavenly. Eventually, the Spanish called the river, Santa Lucea. The English then taking over, “anglicized” the name Santa Lucea, to what we know today, as “St Lucie,” the church’s saint of the blind. The story about the two wives named Mary (he also married a third named Ida) that Flagler married is interesting. Mary Harkness Flagler was the mother of his three children. After Mary died, Henry married her nurse-caregiver, Ida Alice Shourds. Ida Alice, called Alicia by her husband, was much younger than Mr. Flagler. After being declared incurably insane, Ida Alice was hospitalized. Flagler obtained a divorce and married Mary Lily Kenan, who was with him at his death in 1913 and inherited his wealth, and she suddenly died in 1917, with people believing foul play was involved.
It's good to see such an option in place and hopefully people will take advantage of it. It should be your voice aboard the train making the announcements
Took a while but it looks like they did it right. Brightline West is slowly moving forward. Not surprising in California. Can't wait to ride it. Regional routes are the future of getting rail travel back on the menu. Things would be better if freight rail would cooperate. Thanks for showing us around.
Exactly, having a station at such an important hub like MCO makes a lot of sense! Not just for those going to downtown Orlando and the theme parks, but also for those heading to the cruise ports! The McCoy of the former McCoy Air Force Base was Colonel Michael N. W. McCoy to be specific! He was killed in 1957 in the crash of a B-47 Stratojet which suffered wing failure northwest of downtown Orlando while taking part in a practice demonstration. The Air Force Base was Orlando's biggest employer and economic backbone before Walt Disney World opened in 1971. The Air Force Base shut down in 1975 after the Vietnam War and was thus redeveloped as Orlando International Airport! Ghirardelli is pronounced GEAR-ar-deli! As its logo states, it was founded in San Francisco in 1852 by Domingo Ghirardelli, hence the name! Domingo was born in Rapallo, Italy in 1817, first learned about chocolate trade by being a candymaker's apprentice as a child, sailed to South America in his 20s, and after his neighbor in Lima moved to San Francisco in 1847, he decided to move himself in 1849 after hearing about the California Gold Rush.
Amtrak actually sent a delegation for opening day. Andy Byford was there and he's in charge of Amtrak's HSR development and was recently instrumental in getting the Texas Central Railway project revived after being stalled.
Excellent Work once again Danny, Brightline has set the Benchmark for Passenger operations, love to see them do well and maybe expand further into the future. Thanks Again !
Excellent report... Will be interesting to see if, 5 years from now, Brightline is just as clean, speedy, and relaxing, and its personnel are so helpful and friendly... I'm old enough, 90, to remember railroad systems that started the same way and ended up veritable cesspools of dirty and broken equipment and very bad personal service...
Looks like a fun trip between Orlando to Miami (and back) by rail and perfect to get away from one big city to another and not have to worry about traffic
Brightline... it's what the California high speed rail project wishes it could be... 15 years later, and there is not a single mile of track laid, with the original 9.8 billion price tag escalating towards an estimated 88 - 128 billion for completion, in who knows when. I'm very envious of you Floridians.
A silly comment considering the size/scope of CAHSR is far above that of Brightline FL. Brightline FL got to make use of existing FEC track and the only new section they had to build was along the SR 528 ROW. Conversely CAHSR is building brand new electrified, grade-separated Class 9 200+ MPH track. Not have to battle wave after wave of Zombies: NIMBY edition, along with land acquisition and environmental studies. Construction didn't start 15 years ago, so I don't know why people keep regurgitating "n0t a s1ngLe MiL3 oF tR4cK LaID", as if nothing has been constructed in the meantime. No overpasses built. No grade separation, no lands cleared... 9.8 billion was never the total price for the complete system..
I thoroughly enjoy each and every one of your videos Danny, but I especially enjoy the ones where you (and Liz on occasion) will take us along on an adventure where you are on the train, versus filming/chasing it! These two Brightline videos, along with your Auto Train trips and the journey you were invited to attend with the then VP of CSX in his rented Private Varnish were such a hoot! Keep on Keeping on sir! Best, Rick out on the Nampa Sub of the Union Pacific High Iron here in southern Idaho.
Hey Danny, really enjoyed the new video. Very informative about all of the Brightline amenities. Can't wait to take it for a ride. Awesome work as always! Luv2fly.
Glad to see Brightline is still doing well! I rode on the service a couple years ago while I was working in Miami. Took Tri-Rail from Miami to Fort Lauderdale to go to Primanti’s (I’m from Western PA. That’s our place 😁), and again up to West Palm. Spent a little time there, then took Brightline back down to Miami in the evening. It was winter time so they had polar express stuff on board.. I got a little bear. It was such a fantastic ride! Can’t wait to see their west coast electrified service open up.
This was a great video of the Brightline passenger railroad. I had followed the construction of it on other TH-cam videos. That ride looks really nice and clean and modern.
A good advertising video for Brightline Danny. I hope that it's as big a success as the UK's HST service has been and gets extended throughout the States. I'm sure you would love the French TGV which is 186mph, 1/3 faster than our trains in the UK, over long distances such as Paris to Marseilles! Better than air travel as you still get to see the scenery! I'm just sad that our brainless government has cut back our HS2 line to the point where it's no longer going to do any of the things that it was originally designed to. I hope the US can do a better job without government interference.
Honestly privately owned freight rail is why Amtrak service sucks they don't own most of the track they run on and can't run many trains or run fast and they certainly can't Electrify it since the freight railroads refuse to pay even though Electric freight rail has proven itself in other parts of the world mainly India China and South Africa
Wisconsin failed on their opportunity to have a private rail company operating a passenger line back in the early 2000's. I will bet Brightline west is up and running before California is done building their high speed line.
My wife and I are taking a cruise out of Port Miami in December, so we are driving from Tennessee to Orlando and doing the Premium service to Miami and back when we get on land again. I'm very much looking forward to it!
Brightline's 125 MPH/200 KMH speed matches many other 200 KMH trains throughout Europe and even China. Not every train travels at 186+MPH/300+ KMH nor does every route call for/need such a train. As long as the service is fast, frequent, and reliable, Brightline's ridership will continue to grow. Good transit projects tend to raise the tide on other/future transit projects. Speaking of Brightline's Orlando ridership.. In just over 3 weeks (Sep 22-Oct 16) Brightline carried ~58,000 passengers to/from Orlando. Over 24 days that averages out to ~2,400+ passengers per day. I don't think people realize how many people that is so let's just convert all of them to airline passengers. A typical American Airlines Airbus A320 seats 150 passengers (a Spirit Airlines A320 174 passengers) - so I'll just use 170. That means it would take ~14 Airbus A320s to handle what Brightline is carrying per day. Here's the number of flights currently provided by some of the big airline companies from MCO to S FL per day (non-stop flights). American Airlines: 14 (7 south, 7 north) Delta: 6 (3 south, 3 north) Spirit: 5 (2 south, 3 north) This shows that in current operation, Delta and Spirit combined couldn't handle what Brightline is ferrying to/from Orlando. Only American Airlines currently operates barely enough planes to handle current Brightline average over that time span.
Awesome video Danny! As a television producer for over 3 decades, you’re killing it! I live in the high desert of Southern California between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. I hear Bightline will be breaking ground soon for passenger rail service from the Inland Empire (East of LA) to Las Vegas, starting with service from the Victorville/Apple Valley area. The Cajon Pass is the challenge for bringing it to the main population in the IE and LA basin. The Cajon Pass presents many geographical challenges and is already a bottleneck for freight. I’m excited for the possibility of Brightline coming to the west coast. There certainly is a need as the I-15 is jammed almost every weekend with LA to Vegas traffic.
Very excited about the next terminal being built in Tampa and the new, recently announced planned terminal near Port Canaveral. These will be a boon for the cruise community.
As always, wonderful video Danny. I have been binge watching your videos all day. Then, bam. A new one. Originally from South Florida, but have moved to McDonough Georgia this past June (NS country). Born and raised on on the Seaboard Miami main line (tracks right across from I95). I would love to take a ride on the new line. I will plan for it. ❤
Amtrak will never be a viable passenger rail service unless you live in a dense corridor like the Northeast, Chicago or California left coast. Amtrak doesn't own the rails and the freight trains have their rails full of freight trains.
@@williamjones4483 Of course its law, but its unenforceable. You can't pass freight trains sitting in your way on a set of rail. Amtrak can only go as fast as the freight train in front of them. Sure there are sidings where they can pass, but many sidings are too short for the trains today. Perhaps Amtrak and the government would like to pay for the freight companies to build larger sidings?
I live in Juptiter Fl, and would travel ( add trip fuel cost $ 50.00) to ORL to catch direct flights to destinations that were not served at WPB airport. I would spend 2.5 + hours on the trnpk ( provided no traffic issues), then find parking and pay for it for the time away ($75-100). So now I drive or Uber to Brightline WPB and get delivered to ORL. Much better solution. I hope the ridership holds up.
This project illustrates the vast differences between a private enterprise like Brightline, and a government subsidized company such as Amtrak. Here in California, the high-speed railway to nowhere continues going nowhere. Years underway, and 128 billion in taxpayer dollars spent, not a single section has been completed yet. Personally, I'll take the private sector to the government anytime.
Hey Danny. Thanks for all your vids. Ive learned alot from them over the years. Would flying into MCO and taking Brightline to FLL or MIA be a good option for cruise goers provided the airfare is cheaper? Also, I may have missed it, what is the total time from Orlando station to say Miami?
Thanks Danny I can't wait to ride it one day. I wish they had a stop out near the cape for us cruisers. I also heard the CEO for Brightline said they are investing in right of ways for a brightline route on the west coast. We will see how they grow the business... good first step!>
As a theme park fan, I am very excited that Brightline's Orlando airport station is now open, because it means they can begin planning for the next phase to Tampa. There has been a great deal of debate regarding how Brightline will route their tracks west, and I am very curious to see whether an Orlando Convention Center/Universal Studios station takes shape.
I might catch a Brightline ride down to Miami so I can go down to Key West and buy a conch shell so I can play it. Won't know until some point in the future. You've been posting videos since 2007, making this year your 16th anniversary as a TH-camr. Keep the amazing train content coming, and I'll keep watching.
One of the things I liked most about JFK airport was the rail service to the city. People can say whatever they want about the subway but it’s efficient and was fairly cheap when I went. I think all major airports should have rail service for those who want it. It’s not always efficient to take a car in big cities.
It’s great to finally see new passenger trains here in the US, we’ve got some catching up to do! Hopefully people see how well this works and it spreads throughout the country
The Amtrak Office of the Inspector General put out, on about the same day, that they found $4 Billion in waste on trains not even in service. Then, the new Siemens Chargers started throwing pistons. It's been a bad year for Amtrak.
@@tonyburzio4107So Amtrak can’t replace decades old trains? They just ordered the ARIO & one is completed there entering service in 2026. This is actually a great year for Amtrak.
As Brightline was opening, let's cover what was going wrong at Amtrak: Acela 2: Vendor unable to computer model train to assure it will stay on the track, windows shatter when moving, roofs leak shorting out the computers, rust in many inter-car connections, trains delivered but were refused payment to vendor by the Amtrak Office of the Inspector General (AOIG). $2 Billion. Airo: AOIG finds $2 Billion in waste, Amtrak forgot to check clearances in maintenance facilities and the trains don't fit. Many shops need rebuild or complete replacement. Siemens Chargers: To add to last winters' snow ingestion woes that stall the trains, apparently the diesel engines are not holding up and have begin throwing pistons through the car body. There is talk of derating the engines to save the diesel engine blocks. BNSF has already instituted the winter "3 engines with at least one being an old Genesis" rule on their Empire Builder route as snow approaches. This makes Brightline look positively stupendously stunning!
I believe that the USA had the greatest rail service BEFORE the mergers (ie when the PRR & the NYC merged). I rode the PRR from Chicago to Johnstown, PA. and back many times. The Broadway Limited route was wonderful. Not so great when it merged into the Penn Central, but still WAY better than the AMTRAK that we have today. I remember bar cars on the PRR that had piano's bolted to the floor. Restrooms back then had toilets that emptied onto the rail tracks (that kept the reff raff off of the rails for sure). Porters were ready to help anybody no matter how well (or not) they were tipped. So many of the routes that made so much $ in their hey day are gone forever. Now, most routes have you make overnight stops to continue on to the next leg of a trip because the trains barely follow their schedule ontime (you can't make a reservation for a segment the same day as they expect delays). We had the best rail service and then with deregulation and all of the woes of the rail industry (ConRail included) strangled our wonderful railways.
I have followed this Bright line Railroad since it began. I have heard reports about expanding to Jacksonville, Florida And Tampa, Maybe a Disney station too. I am guessing in the Future it Might go to Fort Myers & Naples, then return across those bottom of Florida to Miami to complete the Circle, maybe years from now.
Nice video! If you are a lifelong railfan, you must come visit the CN iron range in Minnesota. Used to have all sort of classic power but unfortunately they are purging a lot of them this year.
Danny, Love the great video about the high speed rail travel! Will be great if we could get more like Europe. Notice you have a hand held scanner Kenwood. How do you like it? I live in California and do travel to Oregon. Have a scanner mounted in my truck. But listen to fire & rail traffic when heading north. But does not seem like it does pick up much. But, again thanks for the video!!❤
I was at a Disney Theme park summer 2023 and we took a cable car over water to the resorts just to see high up. Unfortunately it also had that window screen blocking the beautiful view. Does anyone know why this is being used? This is so jacked up to not be able to see clearly outside. This is disappointing that a train all the way to Miami for two hours you cannot see outside.
You mean the gondolas at Disney? They do this because FL is HOT in the summer. The screen are just like the ones you put in the rear of your vehicle where kids sit. It's a sunscreen. Helps keep the window from getting blazing hot so little kids won't burn their hands or folks won't burn their heads when they rest/lean/look out the window.
I was an engineer out of Paddington station in the 1980s with what was then pretty new HST (High speed trains) 125mph with a front/rear power cars and 7 passenger coaches (cars). Nice to see the USA finally getting some high speed rail away from the NE corridor
Danny, one of my own personal highlights from railroading was being on a train that moved faster than the adjacent highway traffic. With freight, it was rare, but if we had 60 mph track out ahead of us, there was a good chance I was going to go faster than the folks who had to stop at red lights like you have there all along Hwy 301. Now I know most folks driving the 528 like to go as fast as their little cars can go, but something tells me Brightline will always have them beat. And on a side note, had this been an option 10 years ago, it would have saved my wife and I a ton of grief just days before our big day! We were supposed to be flying into Orlando from Texas and getting married in Titusville. Well somehow our flight got re-routed to Fort Lauderdale and that's where we were stranded. Our family was waiting in Orlando for us and we were more than 2 hours away the other end of the Turnpike. We ended up renting a car (which got upgraded for free as a courtesy given the circumstances) and driving it back to Titusville. But we made the most of it. Our first stop was a publix somewhere right there near the airport. You don't think about Publix that much till you are outside of their area and you cannot have something like a Pub Sub or their fried chicken. Rather than speeding up I-95 and dealing with the traffic, we toodled up US-27 and made the trip an all day excursion, eventually taking 50 back to Titusville. But that was then. Like I said, had Brightline been an option, it would have been a no-brainer. Only thing that would make it more convenient is if they made a stop there in Cocoa. With the port right there, I hope they open that stop soon. So many folks would love to step off their plane and get on the cruise ships.
Thanks for this, Danny. Brightline's connection to Orlando is a game-changer. If they can make it work, financially, there are tons of other point-to-point pairings that can also work.
I learned two things from this video: 1) Danny never makes a bad video; and 2) Danny is never quite sure if he’s looking at hummus!
You got that right 😊
Apparently that Hummus on the buffet was egg salad. I would have tried some if I'd known that!
I also learned the difference between a floridian and a floridan. I’ll hang with a true floridan any day!
Brightline should replace all of their trash cans at the stations with “smart” ones, which can compress the waste so there’s room for much more, and tell staff by itself, that it’s full and needs to be emptied!
From 1893 to 1895, Stuart was called Potsdam. This name was chosen by Otto Stypmann, originally from Potsdam, Germany. It was renamed Stuart in 1895, in honor of landowner Homer Hine (Jack) Stuart Jr, who owned 160 acres around the railway station. The St. Lucie River got its name from the Spanish. They first called the river, Rio de Santa Cruz, river of the Holy Cross, as the river is cross-like. Later, they re-christened the river Rio De Luz, river of light, for the lighting on the water is heavenly. Eventually, the Spanish called the river, Santa Lucea. The English then taking over, “anglicized” the name Santa Lucea, to what we know today, as “St Lucie,” the church’s saint of the blind.
The story about the two wives named Mary (he also married a third named Ida) that Flagler married is interesting. Mary Harkness Flagler was the mother of his three children. After Mary died, Henry married her nurse-caregiver, Ida Alice Shourds. Ida Alice, called Alicia by her husband, was much younger than Mr. Flagler. After being declared incurably insane, Ida Alice was hospitalized. Flagler obtained a divorce and married Mary Lily Kenan, who was with him at his death in 1913 and inherited his wealth, and she suddenly died in 1917, with people believing foul play was involved.
It's good to see such an option in place and hopefully people will take advantage of it. It should be your voice aboard the train making the announcements
So cool seeing them go 125mph now. I got some shots by the airport last week. Can’t wait to ride it.
Yes. The thing is an absolute greyhound. (and NOT the bus kind)
@@distantsignalhaha
@@distantsignal 😂
@@distantsignal🤣🤣
And somehow, it still takes 3 hrs to cover 230 miles 👎
I love your voice! I can't quite remember what it'd be called, but it sure feels American.
Enjoy your fancy new train! -your far-northerly neighbour
Took a while but it looks like they did it right. Brightline West is slowly moving forward. Not surprising in California. Can't wait to ride it. Regional routes are the future of getting rail travel back on the menu. Things would be better if freight rail would cooperate. Thanks for showing us around.
What a great segment! Thanks for the video. Nwxt bucket list item for sure.
Exactly, having a station at such an important hub like MCO makes a lot of sense! Not just for those going to downtown Orlando and the theme parks, but also for those heading to the cruise ports! The McCoy of the former McCoy Air Force Base was Colonel Michael N. W. McCoy to be specific! He was killed in 1957 in the crash of a B-47 Stratojet which suffered wing failure northwest of downtown Orlando while taking part in a practice demonstration. The Air Force Base was Orlando's biggest employer and economic backbone before Walt Disney World opened in 1971. The Air Force Base shut down in 1975 after the Vietnam War and was thus redeveloped as Orlando International Airport!
Ghirardelli is pronounced GEAR-ar-deli! As its logo states, it was founded in San Francisco in 1852 by Domingo Ghirardelli, hence the name! Domingo was born in Rapallo, Italy in 1817, first learned about chocolate trade by being a candymaker's apprentice as a child, sailed to South America in his 20s, and after his neighbor in Lima moved to San Francisco in 1847, he decided to move himself in 1849 after hearing about the California Gold Rush.
Excellent re-cap, Danny! I hope we do see a resurgence in the US.
I haven't even watched the video yet and I know it is going to be great... Always top content from Danny! 👍
I appreciate that!
We all love it when Danny posts❤
I loved his cap there at the end! Nice video Distant Signal.
Thank you so much Danny , really appreciate your vlogs! Keep em coming!
Jim ( Fairport Ny)
Great video. Thank you.
Looked like fun. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Now that’s real passenger service! Maybe AMTRAK should watch this video! Gracias🚂🚂🚂
The funny thing is that Amtrak representatives were there at the station that day for the speeches that the Ceo gave.
Amtrak actually sent a delegation for opening day. Andy Byford was there and he's in charge of Amtrak's HSR development and was recently instrumental in getting the Texas Central Railway project revived after being stalled.
There's good chance the Amtrak guys were turning in resumes to Brightline after the Acela 2 disaster.
Excellent Work once again Danny, Brightline has set the Benchmark for Passenger operations, love to see them do well and maybe expand further into the future. Thanks Again !
Wonderful review, Danny Harmon! Thanks for another great video adventure.
Hi Danny, another worthwhile video. Thanks for sharing your trip.
Now, Florida Man just has to learn to stop for the lights, bells and gates and stop getting creamed by Brightline.
Woo hooo! Another Distant Signal video, great video Danny!
Very cool to see Brightline up and running, thanks for sharing. Hoping to make it down that way soon to travel on the train
Looked like a nice ride. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe.🙂🙂
Thank you Danny. Great Job. Love your videos!!
Once again I always love when danny uploads! Great introduction to the bright line rr danny! wooohoo to this!!
Very nice. I hope they can sustain that level of service.
Excellent report...
Will be interesting to see if, 5 years from now, Brightline is just as clean, speedy, and relaxing, and its personnel are so helpful and friendly...
I'm old enough, 90, to remember railroad systems that started the same way and ended up veritable cesspools of dirty and broken equipment and very bad personal service...
Henry Flagler would have been very proud of this service!
Looks Awesome ! I'm looking forward to checking this out some time ! Hope you enjoyed your trip !
A great addition to your 1st video Danny. Well done. I always love the history
I love this Distant Food channel. And the train stuff is nice also.
Great video, along with a wonderful narration .
Thanks for the ride Danny!
Good to see you again, Danny!
Beautiful , thank you... :)
Great video, thanks so much
Nicely done, Mr. Harmon! I wish it had been open a couple of years ago, Ash and I would have loved to make that ride.
The stations look beautiful !!
Let's keep them that way.
Minus the urine, cigarettes, spit, bubble gum...you name it.
Looks like a fun trip between Orlando to Miami (and back) by rail and perfect to get away from one big city to another and not have to worry about traffic
Brightline... it's what the California high speed rail project wishes it could be... 15 years later, and there is not a single mile of track laid, with the original 9.8 billion price tag escalating towards an estimated 88 - 128 billion for completion, in who knows when.
I'm very envious of you Floridians.
A silly comment considering the size/scope of CAHSR is far above that of Brightline FL. Brightline FL got to make use of existing FEC track and the only new section they had to build was along the SR 528 ROW. Conversely CAHSR is building brand new electrified, grade-separated Class 9 200+ MPH track. Not have to battle wave after wave of Zombies: NIMBY edition, along with land acquisition and environmental studies. Construction didn't start 15 years ago, so I don't know why people keep regurgitating "n0t a s1ngLe MiL3 oF tR4cK LaID", as if nothing has been constructed in the meantime. No overpasses built. No grade separation, no lands cleared... 9.8 billion was never the total price for the complete system..
I thoroughly enjoy each and every one of your videos Danny, but I especially enjoy the ones where you (and Liz on occasion) will take us along on an adventure where you are on the train, versus filming/chasing it! These two Brightline videos, along with your Auto Train trips and the journey you were invited to attend with the then VP of CSX in his rented Private Varnish were such a hoot! Keep on Keeping on sir! Best, Rick out on the Nampa Sub of the Union Pacific High Iron here in southern Idaho.
I love when you upload!
Very cool ride along video and enjoyed watching. Have a wonderul upcoming Wednesday.(Steve)
Another great video Danny thank you and see you soon
Hey nice to see that you were also on my train! I'm even in the video at 1:32 on the platform haha
Another awesome video Danny!👍
Boy the ride back was way better visually. Free windows!
3:15 Very kind of them to give you a KIND bar
Hey Danny, really enjoyed the new video. Very informative about all of the Brightline amenities. Can't wait to take it for a ride. Awesome work as always! Luv2fly.
Glad to see Brightline is still doing well! I rode on the service a couple years ago while I was working in Miami. Took Tri-Rail from Miami to Fort Lauderdale to go to Primanti’s (I’m from Western PA. That’s our place 😁), and again up to West Palm. Spent a little time there, then took Brightline back down to Miami in the evening. It was winter time so they had polar express stuff on board.. I got a little bear. It was such a fantastic ride! Can’t wait to see their west coast electrified service open up.
A little different this time, but not in the least less interesting. As always, thanks again, Danny.
This was a great video of the Brightline passenger railroad. I had followed the construction of it on other TH-cam videos. That ride looks really nice and clean and modern.
You are so lucky to able to ride those new trains. Thanks for posting your ride!
Excellent video Danny! When I rode I enjoyed every second of the ride!
Always happy to another video from Distant Signal.
Now we need one from Orlando to Jacksonville...!
LETS GO!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE OPENING TH-cam TO FIND DANNY UPLOADED A NEW VIEW 10 MINUTES AGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A good advertising video for Brightline Danny. I hope that it's as big a success as the UK's HST service has been and gets extended throughout the States. I'm sure you would love the French TGV which is 186mph, 1/3 faster than our trains in the UK, over long distances such as Paris to Marseilles! Better than air travel as you still get to see the scenery! I'm just sad that our brainless government has cut back our HS2 line to the point where it's no longer going to do any of the things that it was originally designed to. I hope the US can do a better job without government interference.
So glad to see private rail coming to the USA! Maybe it’s the start of something bigger!
Every railroad in the US is privately owned. This is nothing new. The only difference is Brightline's interest is in moving passengers.
Honestly privately owned freight rail is why Amtrak service sucks they don't own most of the track they run on and can't run many trains or run fast and they certainly can't Electrify it since the freight railroads refuse to pay even though Electric freight rail has proven itself in other parts of the world mainly India China and South Africa
Wisconsin failed on their opportunity to have a private rail company operating a passenger line back in the early 2000's.
I will bet Brightline west is up and running before California is done building their high speed line.
Amtrak travels on freight lines. Brightline travels on dedicated rail built by Brightline.
@@robertheinkel6225 partially they run on FEC train for a significant section but Brightline and the FEC have the same owners
My wife and I are taking a cruise out of Port Miami in December, so we are driving from Tennessee to Orlando and doing the Premium service to Miami and back when we get on land again. I'm very much looking forward to it!
Brightline. Smart thinking, good decisionmaking, and a wide open throttle. May trains reign again.
another great video.
Brightline's 125 MPH/200 KMH speed matches many other 200 KMH trains throughout Europe and even China. Not every train travels at 186+MPH/300+ KMH nor does every route call for/need such a train. As long as the service is fast, frequent, and reliable, Brightline's ridership will continue to grow. Good transit projects tend to raise the tide on other/future transit projects. Speaking of Brightline's Orlando ridership..
In just over 3 weeks (Sep 22-Oct 16) Brightline carried ~58,000 passengers to/from Orlando. Over 24 days that averages out to ~2,400+ passengers per day. I don't think people realize how many people that is so let's just convert all of them to airline passengers. A typical American Airlines Airbus A320 seats 150 passengers (a Spirit Airlines A320 174 passengers) - so I'll just use 170. That means it would take ~14 Airbus A320s to handle what Brightline is carrying per day. Here's the number of flights currently provided by some of the big airline companies from MCO to S FL per day (non-stop flights).
American Airlines: 14 (7 south, 7 north)
Delta: 6 (3 south, 3 north)
Spirit: 5 (2 south, 3 north)
This shows that in current operation, Delta and Spirit combined couldn't handle what Brightline is ferrying to/from Orlando. Only American Airlines currently operates barely enough planes to handle current Brightline average over that time span.
Awesome video Danny! As a television producer for over 3 decades, you’re killing it! I live in the high desert of Southern California between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. I hear Bightline will be breaking ground soon for passenger rail service from the Inland Empire (East of LA) to Las Vegas, starting with service from the Victorville/Apple Valley area. The Cajon Pass is the challenge for bringing it to the main population in the IE and LA basin. The Cajon Pass presents many geographical challenges and is already a bottleneck for freight. I’m excited for the possibility of Brightline coming to the west coast. There certainly is a need as the I-15 is jammed almost every weekend with LA to Vegas traffic.
Very excited about the next terminal being built in Tampa and the new, recently announced planned terminal near Port Canaveral. These will be a boon for the cruise community.
Looked like a lot of fun!!
As always, wonderful video Danny. I have been binge watching your videos all day. Then, bam. A new one. Originally from South Florida, but have moved to McDonough Georgia this past June (NS country).
Born and raised on on the Seaboard Miami main line (tracks right across from I95).
I would love to take a ride on the new line. I will plan for it.
❤
Hot take: Brightline is what Amtrak is supposed to be.
Amtrak will never be a viable passenger rail service unless you live in a dense corridor like the Northeast, Chicago or California left coast. Amtrak doesn't own the rails and the freight trains have their rails full of freight trains.
@@JohnSmith-zi9or By law Amtrak is supposed to have priority over freight but it is not enforced.
@@williamjones4483 Of course its law, but its unenforceable. You can't pass freight trains sitting in your way on a set of rail. Amtrak can only go as fast as the freight train in front of them. Sure there are sidings where they can pass, but many sidings are too short for the trains today. Perhaps Amtrak and the government would like to pay for the freight companies to build larger sidings?
@@JohnSmith-zi9or Quad-tracking works better.
@@JimBones1990 "Quad-tracking works better." They don't have the money for the property purchases required for the right-of-way.
Super cool video! Where I live in Minnesota there is currently plans for a similar high speed passenger service from Minneapolis to Duluth, MN.
I live in Juptiter Fl, and would travel ( add trip fuel cost $ 50.00) to ORL to catch direct flights to destinations that were not served at WPB airport. I would spend 2.5 + hours on the trnpk ( provided no traffic issues), then find parking and pay for it for the time away ($75-100). So now I drive or Uber to Brightline WPB and get delivered to ORL. Much better solution. I hope the ridership holds up.
Very enjoyable 😊!
All I can say Danny is in the UK we would kill for a service like Brightline!
This project illustrates the vast differences between a private enterprise like Brightline, and a government subsidized company such as Amtrak. Here in California, the high-speed railway to nowhere continues going nowhere. Years underway, and 128 billion in taxpayer dollars spent, not a single section has been completed yet. Personally, I'll take the private sector to the government anytime.
Hey Danny. Thanks for all your vids. Ive learned alot from them over the years.
Would flying into MCO and taking Brightline to FLL or MIA be a good option for cruise goers provided the airfare is cheaper? Also, I may have missed it, what is the total time from Orlando station to say Miami?
Thanks Danny I can't wait to ride it one day. I wish they had a stop out near the cape for us cruisers. I also heard the CEO for Brightline said they are investing in right of ways for a brightline route on the west coast. We will see how they grow the business... good first step!>
As a theme park fan, I am very excited that Brightline's Orlando airport station is now open, because it means they can begin planning for the next phase to Tampa. There has been a great deal of debate regarding how Brightline will route their tracks west, and I am very curious to see whether an Orlando Convention Center/Universal Studios station takes shape.
I might catch a Brightline ride down to Miami so I can go down to Key West and buy a conch shell so I can play it. Won't know until some point in the future. You've been posting videos since 2007, making this year your 16th anniversary as a TH-camr. Keep the amazing train content coming, and I'll keep watching.
I see Brightline heading out every morning as I'm heading west on 528 to MCO....
I’ve said this on many videos. I can’t wait to ride this train. And I hope Brightline trains come to Jacksonville soon.
One of the things I liked most about JFK airport was the rail service to the city. People can say whatever they want about the subway but it’s efficient and was fairly cheap when I went. I think all major airports should have rail service for those who want it. It’s not always efficient to take a car in big cities.
see also: the world's busiest airport, which also has a direct subway link. (ATL)
It’s great to finally see new passenger trains here in the US, we’ve got some catching up to do! Hopefully people see how well this works and it spreads throughout the country
The Amtrak Office of the Inspector General put out, on about the same day, that they found $4 Billion in waste on trains not even in service. Then, the new Siemens Chargers started throwing pistons. It's been a bad year for Amtrak.
@@tonyburzio4107So Amtrak can’t replace decades old trains? They just ordered the ARIO & one is completed there entering service in 2026. This is actually a great year for Amtrak.
Now we NEED Brightline level trains in 47 more states!!!! Thanks for your great video as always. Thanks
So sad, only 7 years to late for my mom! It would have made visiting so much easier!
As Brightline was opening, let's cover what was going wrong at Amtrak:
Acela 2: Vendor unable to computer model train to assure it will stay on the track, windows shatter when moving, roofs leak shorting out the computers, rust in many inter-car connections, trains delivered but were refused payment to vendor by the Amtrak Office of the Inspector General (AOIG). $2 Billion.
Airo: AOIG finds $2 Billion in waste, Amtrak forgot to check clearances in maintenance facilities and the trains don't fit. Many shops need rebuild or complete replacement.
Siemens Chargers: To add to last winters' snow ingestion woes that stall the trains, apparently the diesel engines are not holding up and have begin throwing pistons through the car body. There is talk of derating the engines to save the diesel engine blocks. BNSF has already instituted the winter "3 engines with at least one being an old Genesis" rule on their Empire Builder route as snow approaches.
This makes Brightline look positively stupendously stunning!
And Brightline is just the same turd with a new paint job.
I believe that the USA had the greatest rail service BEFORE the mergers (ie when the PRR & the NYC merged). I rode the PRR from Chicago to Johnstown, PA. and back many times. The Broadway Limited route was wonderful. Not so great when it merged into the Penn Central, but still WAY better than the AMTRAK that we have today. I remember bar cars on the PRR that had piano's bolted to the floor. Restrooms back then had toilets that emptied onto the rail tracks (that kept the reff raff off of the rails for sure). Porters were ready to help anybody no matter how well (or not) they were tipped. So many of the routes that made so much $ in their hey day are gone forever. Now, most routes have you make overnight stops to continue on to the next leg of a trip because the trains barely follow their schedule ontime (you can't make a reservation for a segment the same day as they expect delays). We had the best rail service and then with deregulation and all of the woes of the rail industry (ConRail included) strangled our wonderful railways.
Muy interesante, gracias
I have followed this Bright line Railroad since it began. I have heard reports about expanding to Jacksonville, Florida And Tampa, Maybe a Disney station too.
I am guessing in the Future it Might go to Fort Myers & Naples, then return across those bottom of Florida to Miami to complete the Circle, maybe years from now.
Not Disney, Universal got the franchise. Naples just tore out their railroad to build a bike trail. Maybe Fort Myers.
I was stationed at Patrick AFB in 1969. There is nothing that resembles anything I rember.
Love your video, I Like to take a ride on that Brightline someday
Nice video! If you are a lifelong railfan, you must come visit the CN iron range in Minnesota. Used to have all sort of classic power but unfortunately they are purging a lot of them this year.
Never disappointed with Danny’s videos.
Watching from the narrow iron of NZ
You always remind me of Bob Barker.
I watched a few other videos from the content providers that you mentioned seeing, but no one does it like you!
Thanks! Much appreciated.
Thanks for the ride. I live in LasVegas and waiting for our Brightline to California.
Danny,
Love the great video about the high speed rail travel!
Will be great if we could get more like Europe.
Notice you have a hand held scanner Kenwood.
How do you like it?
I live in California and do travel to Oregon.
Have a scanner mounted in my truck. But listen to fire & rail traffic when heading north.
But does not seem like it does pick up much.
But, again thanks for the video!!❤
Cant wait for the tampa line to open
I was at a Disney Theme park summer 2023 and we took a cable car over water to the resorts just to see high up. Unfortunately it also had that window screen blocking the beautiful view. Does anyone know why this is being used? This is so jacked up to not be able to see clearly outside. This is disappointing that a train all the way to Miami for two hours you cannot see outside.
You mean the gondolas at Disney? They do this because FL is HOT in the summer. The screen are just like the ones you put in the rear of your vehicle where kids sit. It's a sunscreen. Helps keep the window from getting blazing hot so little kids won't burn their hands or folks won't burn their heads when they rest/lean/look out the window.
I was an engineer out of Paddington station in the 1980s with what was then pretty new HST (High speed trains) 125mph with a front/rear power cars and 7 passenger coaches (cars). Nice to see the USA finally getting some high speed rail away from the NE corridor
Danny, one of my own personal highlights from railroading was being on a train that moved faster than the adjacent highway traffic. With freight, it was rare, but if we had 60 mph track out ahead of us, there was a good chance I was going to go faster than the folks who had to stop at red lights like you have there all along Hwy 301. Now I know most folks driving the 528 like to go as fast as their little cars can go, but something tells me Brightline will always have them beat.
And on a side note, had this been an option 10 years ago, it would have saved my wife and I a ton of grief just days before our big day! We were supposed to be flying into Orlando from Texas and getting married in Titusville. Well somehow our flight got re-routed to Fort Lauderdale and that's where we were stranded. Our family was waiting in Orlando for us and we were more than 2 hours away the other end of the Turnpike. We ended up renting a car (which got upgraded for free as a courtesy given the circumstances) and driving it back to Titusville. But we made the most of it. Our first stop was a publix somewhere right there near the airport. You don't think about Publix that much till you are outside of their area and you cannot have something like a Pub Sub or their fried chicken. Rather than speeding up I-95 and dealing with the traffic, we toodled up US-27 and made the trip an all day excursion, eventually taking 50 back to Titusville. But that was then. Like I said, had Brightline been an option, it would have been a no-brainer. Only thing that would make it more convenient is if they made a stop there in Cocoa. With the port right there, I hope they open that stop soon. So many folks would love to step off their plane and get on the cruise ships.
I am a San Francisco Bay Area native. Ghirardelli is pronounce with the other g sound, as in gasoline.
Thanks for this, Danny. Brightline's connection to Orlando is a game-changer. If they can make it work, financially, there are tons of other point-to-point pairings that can also work.