Your firsthand impressions of Brightline (Miami, Orlando: rental car, rental, taxis)

[Tulippsy]

I live less than a mile from the tracks and agree with the above poster. My Publix is on the other side of the tracks and I haven’t yet been delayed by a train; Brightline or otherwise. Haven’t heard a Brightline train go by yet. It could be that certain areas they are prohibited from sounding their horns. Any railroad folks out there who know? I grew up near a railroad so the sound of the freight trains are a pleasant sound for me. Reminds me of my idyllic childhood.

[JenaS62]

I was gone from the area all weekend but I had to drive to the UPS store this morning and the barrier came down and lights came on over the RR tracks. A BL train went by. No biggie. But I can't see it ever being full of paying passengers. You may be right. No money to be made there.

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by JenaS62

I was gone from the area all weekend but I had to drive to the UPS store this morning and the barrier came down and lights came on over the RR tracks. A BL train went by. No biggie. But I can't see it ever being full of paying passengers. You may be right. No money to be made there.

Could you see passengers inside to estimate ridership?

Did the warning sound come from the train itself, or a speaker at the crossing? Or both?

thx

[Mr. Purple 2]

I came out of a business yesterday evening and I was about 200-300 feet from the tracks or less. I heard the crossing warning sounds and quickly pulled out my phone. The train had an engine in the front and one in the rear with four passenger cars. It passed in less than 7 seconds and my entire video is 11 seconds lenght. It happened so fast I almost didn't get my Iphone out and ready to record. Horn wasn't very loud and it was much more quiet than a freight train. It must be a "lightweight" unit for the railroad junkies or posters that are familiar with rail travel. I have encountered trucks and motorcycles that are just as nearly as loud as the train.



I have sent the video to friends and they were surprised by the quickness and the low noise level of the train. I discussed the train with friends earlier who have encounter it and all are surprised that it isn't the issue some were making about the train. In a few weeks, it become a normal occurrence. Much ado about nothing.

[City Guy997S]

High speed rail works great in Europe because fuel is expensive, heck to get your license in Germany is like $2500 alone, parking is tight in older cities. The upside, people use the train often and the price is decent. The trains are clean and very nice, the train stations are typical dirty train stations.

Brightline will be a failure short and long term. Prices are too high and the destinations like Orlando people will want to have a car when they get there.


Here is the argument: Click the link at the bottom, its from a local newschannel that compared driving to train costs.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHZ1dKrY3E0

[DanielAvery]

If ridership meets or exceeds expectations, I'm sure they will issue a glowing press release touting their success. But if it falls short, we won't hear a thing.

I've also wondered how trains like these deal with families traveling with all that "baggage" they take on vacation--strollers, diaper bags, cooler bags for food and drinks, stuff to keep kids occupied, etc. in addition to the usual suitcases of clothes. When packing the car for such a trip to Disney, you can pack as much as the minivan will hold. When going on a plane, you obviously can't carry much of anything without paying huge, numerous fees. I wonder how much of that stuff Brightline allows?

[JenaS62]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Could you see passengers inside to estimate ridership?

Did the warning sound come from the train itself, or a speaker at the crossing? Or both?

thx

I could not see if there were passengers or not. And I do not recall a warning sound. Just the blinking lights and the barrier came down. But I probably had my radio on so I may not have heard one if there was one.

[DanielAvery]

Did the warning sound come from the train itself, or a speaker at the crossing? Or both?

At the intersection near me, there is a bell-like noise when the arms go down (and again when they go up). I only hear it when it's really quiet (late at night) due to the distance, but I assume it is something at the intersection rather than attached to the trains since the BL train is much further away. The 'ding ding ding' noise must be something they added as part of the upgrades they did last year to the intersection.

I've yet to be close enough to the tracks during a BL transit to be able to see inside, so I'm also curious about the ridership levels.

[lunetunelover]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Could you see passengers inside to estimate ridership?

Did the warning sound come from the train itself, or a speaker at the crossing? Or both?

thx

There are bells/sounds for the gate closures (this happens for all trains at our crossings) and there is a train horn for the train itself. Brightline horns and the cars are not as loud as the freight trains.

[beach43ofus]

Thanks for the updates thus far. I hope you keep them coming. I wonder if the windows are tinted so much, you cannot see if there's any occupants inside the cars, are not. The tinting would keep the cars cooler in the Florida Sun.

So far, it seems like the sound isn't too loud, & the traffic tie ups are not too bad either...all good news.