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FLheat

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jliv Whistle-Stop

jliv

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Interesting interview with the brains behind all of this, Wes Edens, on CNBC.  He points out that last month (March 2023), the operations in S. Florida were profitable for the first time (I'm sure that's from an EBITDA perspective) and they never anticipated it would ever pull a profit, as the Orlando-Miami service was supposed to be the MVP to justify the investment.  That's good news for privately-funded high-speed rail in the US, especially with attracting future investment (they're paying up to an eye-watering 8% on current bonds).  Note: they added two new stations in Aventura and Boca Raton in December, which has caused a significant jump in overall ridership.  

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jgardnerucf
jgardnerucf

Thar she blows! Taken now, 11am, 6/20 heading East from MCO.

stevenycer1
stevenycer1

Christmas Eve 2019 / MCO Intermodal Construction:   Facing South Facing east  

dcluley98
dcluley98

Tracks are complete and the first BrightLine test train has made the full trip to the OIA Intermodal Station:   

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jrs2 Metropolis

jrs2

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16 hours ago, prahaboheme said:

If and when a Cocoa Beach station arrives, I’d imagine they will offer Port Canaveral shuttle service also.

check out the post I did in the Extended Metro/Brevard thread.  PC is ranked the busiest port and just topped PortMiami, and, it is currently rated the best port with PortMiami No.2.  That speaks volumes.  Brightline would drool at the prospects of a Cocoa station you would think.  I reckon people would go to MCO station and take BL to Cocoa for their cruise (which could flood Terminal C parking even more... 

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jliv Whistle-Stop

jliv

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2 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

check out the post I did in the Extended Metro/Brevard thread.  PC is ranked the busiest port and just topped PortMiami, and, it is currently rated the best port with PortMiami No.2.  That speaks volumes.  Brightline would drool at the prospects of a Cocoa station you would think.  I reckon people would go to MCO station and take BL to Cocoa for their cruise (which could flood Terminal C parking even more... 

See my last post about the Wes Edens interview, and how much of an impact the two smaller stations they added in December have made on overall ridership. Bodes very well for a Cocoa, Melbourne, and Ft. Pierce station in the immediate future. (I believe Aventura and Boca Raton were mostly funded by local governments)

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jrs2 Metropolis

jrs2

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9 minutes ago, jliv said:

See my last post about the Wes Edens interview, and how much of an impact the two smaller stations they added in December have made on overall ridership. Bodes very well for a Cocoa, Melbourne, and Ft. Pierce station in the immediate future. (I believe Aventura and Boca Raton were mostly funded by local governments)

just watched it; we simultaneously posted.  Amazing the difference those two stations made on that leg of the system.

They may have to start expanding Terminal C parking now.  Think about it...it's pretty full now without BL; I figure BL traffic (outgoing) would add at least another 25% initially to the parking garage capacity.

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dcluley98 Town

dcluley98

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That is pretty crazy. All the projections were that the would never turn a profit until they got higher priced inter-city connections like Orlando, Jacksonville, and Tampa to boost the revenue.  (Mainly because local/South Florida was loss leader for that service and competing with other local services like Tri-Rail Commuter Rail for need).  The bonds are priced so high because no investors would take them at the time and they did multiple rounds trying to sell them before anybody would take on the risk. Now that it worked out, those folks will get their high payments to go along with the risk they took, and the parent company can then pay-off higher interest debt for better capital allocation in future financing. (although rates are considerably higher in general now, so no guarantees of what the market would bear right now for new debt offering). 

This is all good news for BL and for future expansion of the service in general. Glad to see it is working out. 

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codypet City

codypet

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37 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

just watched it; we simultaneously posted.  Amazing the difference those two stations made on that leg of the system.

They may have to start expanding Terminal C parking now.  Think about it...it's pretty full now without BL; I figure BL traffic (outgoing) would add at least another 25% initially to the parking garage capacity.

Terminal C parking expansion is on the way.

48 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

check out the post I did in the Extended Metro/Brevard thread.  PC is ranked the busiest port and just topped PortMiami, and, it is currently rated the best port with PortMiami No.2.  That speaks volumes.  Brightline would drool at the prospects of a Cocoa station you would think.  I reckon people would go to MCO station and take BL to Cocoa for their cruise (which could flood Terminal C parking even more... 

That wont happen as long as BL uses the land they're currently using for the track.

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jliv Whistle-Stop

jliv

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Posted (edited)
8 minutes ago, codypet said:

image.thumb.png.1ee8abf1274b453f58067b333efc4729.png

Some stops get bypassed.

Every other train, in 2-hour intervals, stops in Boca Raton.  Otherwise, all other stations, including Aventura, get hourly service to and from Orlando.  

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prahaboheme City

prahaboheme

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1 hour ago, shardoon said:

Nobody is traveling from Orlando to Aventura.  West Palm, Ft Lauderdale, and Miami make sense. Aventura is a local stop..... no need for this. 

Is it that the Aventura stop would take the load off people arriving / departing in MIA or Ft Lauderdale? 
Similar say to how the Acela stops at Back Bay Station in Boston while then going on to South Station.

Just a thought.

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jack Burg

jack

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5 hours ago, shardoon said:

Why Aventura on every train? That is dumb. Love the $7 parking though.......

Less for tourists and more for commuters? Aventura has tons of new residents since they were all priced out of the other cities. Technically, it is not Aventura but you get my point. 

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aent Burg

aent

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7 hours ago, shardoon said:

Nobody is traveling from Orlando to Aventura.  West Palm, Ft Lauderdale, and Miami make sense. Aventura is a local stop..... no need for this. 

 

6 hours ago, prahaboheme said:

Is it that the Aventura stop would take the load off people arriving / departing in MIA or Ft Lauderdale? 
Similar say to how the Acela stops at Back Bay Station in Boston while then going on to South Station.

Just a thought.

Not only that, but Aventura and Boca waaayyy exceeded everyone's expectations for ridership. I've heard the Boca station is frequently extremely crowded, and was not built big enough, and Brightline hitting profitability before launching Orlando and before expectations was entirely due to those 2 new stations. Aventura only adds one stop to only Miami as a destination, it adds no stops if you're going to WPB or Ft Lauderdale. I wouldn't be surprised if they experiment with this a little bit, but at the very least, while they're short trains, stopping in Aventura makes sense.

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jrs2 Metropolis

jrs2

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1 hour ago, prahaboheme said:

Forget about a Brightline station at Disney.

Charge on, governor!

You forgot a few: 

Charge On Orange County! 

Charge On City of Orlando!

Charge On Universal! 

Charge On I-Drive Tourist District!

Charge On Sunrail!

Charge On Brightline!

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jrs2 Metropolis

jrs2

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10 minutes ago, aent said:

I noticed while planning my first trip that kids (under 12) tickets are only $39 from Orlando to Miami. Infact, from WPB to Miami kids are only $5, so the pricing isn't as bad for families.

any idea how and if they enforce a family of four versus a group of four ala that family rate?

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aent Burg

aent

Posted
Posted (edited)
27 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

any idea how and if they enforce a family of four versus a group of four ala that family rate?

No idea, I'd guess the first 4 tickets will be the family of four rate, and additional kids will be the kid rate? They didn't say age restrictions on the first 4 tickets either

Edited by aent
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aent Burg

aent

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4 hours ago, shardoon said:

Also, the $7 parking fee is pretty cool. However, I can see this being taken advantage of. If you are gonna be away from a prolonged trip, may be cheaper to buy a one way Brightline ticket and get the prepaid parking rate. 

I don't think thats beating the price of the offsite airport parking though, and I imagine they will have length limitations

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