Riding Brightline from Orlando: Train travel should be this easy everywhere

ORLANDO, Florida – Riding the train should be this easy everywhere.

After my flight landed in Orlando, it took about 25 minutes to get from my gate in Terminal A to the new Brightline station in Terminal C. I waited 10 minutes to board and was on my way to West Palm Beach.

Brightline, which started service in southeast Florida in 2018, debuted its new Orlando station in late 2023. I’ve been meaning to try it since.

It was easy, on time and comfortable. It was also kind of expensive: $97 for a two-hour round-trip journey, when a rental car from Orlando would have cost me $40 per day.

Still, if you can’t or don’t want to drive, taking the train is a terrific alternative.

“For somebody who hates driving in South Florida traffic, it’s more convenient for me,” said Gina Haffer, who boarded with me in Orlando and was headed home to Fort Lauderdale after visiting a friend. “It’s way better than driving on I-95.”

Trying Brightline — The West Palm Beach Brightline station was designed by international architecture firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, who also designed stations in Miami and Fort Lauderdale.Susan Glaser, Cleveland.com

Private train travel

Brightline, the only privately owned and operated intercity passenger railroad in the United States, travels from Miami to Orlando, with an extension to Tampa planned for the future.

The company also is developing what it calls Brightline West, which is expected to connect Las Vegas with Southern California by late 2028.

Brightline was conceived by Wes Edens, the billionaire co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and co-founder of the Fortress Investment Group, which owns the rail service.

Much of the route follows the tracks of Henry Flagler’s old Florida East Coast Railway, before turning west toward Orlando.

The service is sometimes described as high speed, but it isn’t really that, traveling at a maximum 125 mph with an average speed of 69 mph.

It takes three hours and 25 minutes to travel the 235 miles from Miami to Orlando – about the same as driving without heavy traffic.

What it offers is consistency and frequency.

The route from Orlando to Miami operates 16 times a day – 16 times! – which was lucky for me, because my Frontier Airlines flight from Cleveland was delayed two hours and I missed my initial booking.

I called Brightline’s customer-service number while I was still in Cleveland and was assured that the service’s Connect with Confidence guarantee allowed me to switch to a different departure time with no extra cost.

The service boasts an on-time performance percentage of 94%.

In Orlando, Brightline operates from Terminal C, new in 2022, which primarily serves as the location for international flight arrivals and departures.

My Frontier flight landed in Terminal A; getting from A to C required a decent amount of walking plus two rides on the airport’s people-mover trams. In total, it took about 25 minutes to reach the Brightline station.

Brightline recommends no fewer than 90 minutes from plane landing to train departing, but we didn’t need that much time. Then again, we didn’t check bags and we were seated near the front of the plane for an easy exit.

Brightline trains feature new Siemens cars with a maximum capacity of nearly 400 passengers in two fare classes, Smart and Premium. The Smart class was plenty comfy for me, with wide leather seats, plenty of legroom, power outlets, consistent WiFi and nearby extra-large restrooms.

These are the same Siemens cars used on Amtrak Midwest routes in Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, including a route from Ann Arbor to Chicago I took last fall.

My delayed flight caused me to skip lunch, so I was hungry when I boarded the train. There are no lounge cars here; instead, you order food and drink from your seat and the staff delivers it.

“You don’t have to wait in line,” said the employee working our car. “We do all the work for you.”

And while the Cuban sandwich my husband and I shared wasn’t freshly made, it also wasn’t bad.

The service has its detractors.

Some Floridians have come to call Brightline the Death Train because of the large number of fatalities along the route involving trains and both pedestrians and other vehicles. More than 100 people have died crossing the tracks in Southern Florida in the six years it has been operational.

In response, Brightline has invested in both crossing equipment and launched public-education campaigns.

The train service has yet to turn a profit. In 2024, Brightline reported a net loss of $549 million, largely due to debt and capital costs, despite a significant increase in ridership and revenue.

In 2024, nearly 3 million passengers traveled on Brightline, up 35% from the year before. The company is projecting 4 million passengers this year.

Count me and my husband among them.

Also on my trip: Several couples headed to Fort Lauderdale for a cruise and Warren Forsythe, who was headed to West Palm Beach to visit a friend.

Forsythe, of Orlando, said he was surprised that the train – which he takes maybe 10 times per year – was as crowded as it was.

“I didn’t think it would be this popular,” he said. “Trains just aren’t that popular in this country.”

But maybe they could be.

If you go: Brightline in Florida

What: Train service that links Orlando to Miami via West Palm Beach, Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale. Stations in Cocoa and Stuart, north of West Palm, are in development, as is service west to Tampa.

Stations: The stations are well-located in prime downtown spots, except for Orlando’s, which is at the airport. The West Palm Beach station is at 501 Evernia St., an easy walk to hotels and dining. In Miami, the station, at 600 NW 1st Ave., was built on the site of the former southern terminus of Florida East Coast Railway. The mixed-use complex includes dining, retail, apartments and office space, and connects to local commuter rail.

Fares: How much you pay depends on where you’re going and when you buy your ticket. I paid $97 for a round-trip ticket two days before my visit. Several different fare categories are offered, including Smart Saver, Smart and Premium, which offer various amenities, including no-change fees, complimentary food and beverage and wider seats.

More information: gobrightline.com