Debuting in January of 2018, Brightline, now Virgin Trains, set out to transform passenger train service in Florida. First with service between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, and then a few months later to West Palm Beach. Since the launch, the company has experienced a steady ramp-up in ridership comparable to other passenger rail lines around the world.
In just a year and a half of operation, the Brightline/Virgin Trains service celebrated a major milestone, one million passengers! Residents and visitors alike have opted to travel by train for both business and leisure trips in South Florida.
“This milestone shows the demand for new ways to travel and the need for greater connectivity in South Florida and other areas of the country,” said Virgin Trains President Patrick Goddard. “While we’re still in the adoption phase, our inaugural year showed great promise and tremendous opportunity to reinvent passenger rail in America.”
One million rides not only delivered significant time and cost savings to passengers in the past year but also a positive sustainable environmental and economic impact to the communities where Virgin Trains currently operates. From 2018 to 2019, one million rides roughly translated to:
- 400,000 fewer car trips on the road (average party size of 2.5 passengers)
- Reduction of 15 million pounds of CO2 emissions
- 750,000 fewer fuel gallons on the road, representing roughly $2 million in savings
- Cumulative time savings of 76 years (each passenger saved an average of 40 minutes by choosing rail over the highway)
For complete details, including fares, schedules, and special offers, visit Brightline/Virgin Trains USA.
