(ProsperNews.net) – A privately owned high-speed rail line is opening in Florida, the first in America for a century. Fortress Investment Group is launching a new Brightline, a colorful, rapid train that will run from Miami to Orlando for $158. The $5 billion venture is the company’s second rail link and follows its Miami to West Palm Beach service that opened in 2018. Fortress Investment Group hopes it will carry 8 million passengers annually and intends to follow up with a high-speed service between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in 2027.
There is only one other high-speed rail service in the United States: the Boston to Washington, DC, service, which was launched in 2000 and is owned by the federal government. The new Miami to Orlando service is the first private high-speed train in America in 100 years and is touted as an environmentally friendly boost for the area.
Brightline CEO Mike Reininger said, “The idea that my car is the only way for me to get where I need to go is being challenged by a new product. A new product that’s safer, that’s greener, that is a great value proposition, and it’s fun.”
The trains will run on biodiesel and travel at 79 mph in urban areas and up to 125 mph in rural and low-populated regions.
John Renne, director of Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions, said the area is perfect for a new rail line because so many people travel between the two cities, and almost all use cars—around 40 million people journey between Orlando and Miami every year.
However, safety may be an issue for the company as Brightline’s current services have the worst record in the US. The service between Miami and West Palm Beach has killed more than 40 people since it opened in 2018. That amounts to one death per month and usually involves motorists or pedestrians misjudging the train’s speed, suicide, or drug and alcohol-related incidents.
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