Brightline/Virgin Trains USA

TrainsOfDisney

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
I’ve taken Acela DC to Boston. I’m not sure how you’d be able to tell how many people were going the entire route unless you were creeping and looking at everyone’s seat checks. Besides... that’s not even the point, what makes train travel make so much sense is how one train can serve so many markets, unlike air travel.
 
Lensman

Lensman

Well-Known Member
TrainChasers said:
Also.... literally every time I’ve ridden the Acela it’s sold out and hard to find a seat. If no one is taking the train as you claim.....
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Let's just say that I've rode the Acela NYP-BOS-NYP weekly for a couple of years. So maybe a total of 150-200 one way trips? I am estimating the number of people traveling "through" WAS-BOS by how many people I see on the train already when I boarded at NYP and how many people I see staying seated when I got off BOS-NYP. Also I got to see the load factor year-round. It was only really full during bad weather or around holiday weekends. Note that ridership WAS-NYP is much higher than ridership NYP-BOS, according to my friends.

You can take my observations any way you like, I don't really care. I'm just laying out the semi-anecdotal information for anyone who might interested in them. I don't claim to be "right", I'm just stating my semi-informed personal assessment.

Note that I also used to work in airline route planning, so I understand network effects. I you want, you can glean information about how much of ATL-MCO segment traffic is O&D based on the 10% DOT sampling. I haven't found a queryable public source for that and I obviously don't recall it from my airline days since that was long ago.
 
wishiwere@wdw

wishiwere@wdw

Well-Known Member
Not sure how accurate this is but it’s claiming a stop will be coming to the new Universal Park. I also found it interesting that the article also claims the Disney stop is already under construction?

archpaper.com

The new Universal Orlando theme park will be a transit-oriented good time

Central Florida entertainment complex Universal Orlando is building a transit-oriented theme park that will link up with Virgin Trains' high-speed rail.
archpaper.com archpaper.com
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
wishiwere@wdw said:
Not sure how accurate this is but it’s claiming a stop will be coming to the new Universal Park. I also found it interesting that the article also claims the Disney stop is already under construction?

archpaper.com

The new Universal Orlando theme park will be a transit-oriented good time

Central Florida entertainment complex Universal Orlando is building a transit-oriented theme park that will link up with Virgin Trains' high-speed rail.
archpaper.com archpaper.com
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It’s about half accurate. As stated, Universal does want a station near the convention center. Inaccurate is the claim that anything directly related to Walt Disney World is under construction. What started construction is the expansion to Orlando International Airport. The link to Walt Disney World would really be more a part of their desire to expand to Tampa and the state approvals for that route.
 
bpiper

bpiper

Well-Known Member
Here is an update on the latest with Brightline/Virgin Trains from the South Florida Business Journal. What I don't understand is how the Miami to MCO route won't be done until 2022 even though its under construction but the Tampa to Orlando leg would be completed in 2021.

https://www.bizjournals.com/southfl...-trains-targets-timeline-for-orlandoarea.html

Virgin Trains could be nearing an agreement soon on a location near the theme parks in Orlando.

The Miami-based intercity train formerly known as Brightline, which is working on a $4 billion expansion from Orlando International Airport to West Palm Beach, revealed in a September report that it would target reaching an agreement to develop a station in fourth-quarter of this year. Virgin Trains now is evaluating station sites in the area that may serve one or more theme parks in the area.

Virgin has also initiated plans for stations in Aventura and PortMiami.

A station for the theme parks is something Virgin Trains has proposed as part of its $1.7 billion Orlando-to-Tampa route, and area resorts have voiced support for it. A Walt Disney World Resort representative spoke in favor of the rail expansion project during an April 5 Florida Development Finance Corp. meeting and Universal Parks & Resorts CEO Tom Williams has said he will lobby hard for the train to have a station near Universal’s proposed Epic Universe theme park.

Virgin Trains did not reveal the locations of the station sites it was looking at in the report. Virgin Trains representatives couldn't be reached for comment.

For its Tampa route, Virgin Trains still has to complete negotiations with the Florida Department of Transportation and Central Florida Expressway Authority related to the right of way between the two cities. A new Jan. 1 deadline was set for right-of-way negotiations to be completed between the parties after an agreement wasn't met on the last deadline of Oct. 3.

The train line is proposed for completion in 2021, but it is unclear if the deadline change will push that timeline.

The ongoing Orlando-to-West Palm Beach project — which started in May and is scheduled for a 2022 completion — is expected to create 10,000 jobs and generate $650 million in state, federal and local tax revenue.
 
jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
bpiper said:
Here is an update on the latest with Brightline/Virgin Trains from the South Florida Business Journal. What I don't understand is how the Miami to MCO route won't be done until 2022 even though its under construction but the Tampa to Orlando leg would be completed in 2021.

https://www.bizjournals.com/southfl...-trains-targets-timeline-for-orlandoarea.html

Virgin Trains could be nearing an agreement soon on a location near the theme parks in Orlando.

The Miami-based intercity train formerly known as Brightline, which is working on a $4 billion expansion from Orlando International Airport to West Palm Beach, revealed in a September report that it would target reaching an agreement to develop a station in fourth-quarter of this year. Virgin Trains now is evaluating station sites in the area that may serve one or more theme parks in the area.

Virgin has also initiated plans for stations in Aventura and PortMiami.

A station for the theme parks is something Virgin Trains has proposed as part of its $1.7 billion Orlando-to-Tampa route, and area resorts have voiced support for it. A Walt Disney World Resort representative spoke in favor of the rail expansion project during an April 5 Florida Development Finance Corp. meeting and Universal Parks & Resorts CEO Tom Williams has said he will lobby hard for the train to have a station near Universal’s proposed Epic Universe theme park.

Virgin Trains did not reveal the locations of the station sites it was looking at in the report. Virgin Trains representatives couldn't be reached for comment.

For its Tampa route, Virgin Trains still has to complete negotiations with the Florida Department of Transportation and Central Florida Expressway Authority related to the right of way between the two cities. A new Jan. 1 deadline was set for right-of-way negotiations to be completed between the parties after an agreement wasn't met on the last deadline of Oct. 3.

The train line is proposed for completion in 2021, but it is unclear if the deadline change will push that timeline.

The ongoing Orlando-to-West Palm Beach project — which started in May and is scheduled for a 2022 completion — is expected to create 10,000 jobs and generate $650 million in state, federal and local tax revenue.
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I believe the east coast segment is longer and also requires more ground prep.
 
bpiper

bpiper

Well-Known Member
jt04 said:
I believe the east coast segment is longer and also requires more ground prep.
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The new track section from the Space coast to MCO is about the same length from Tampa to MCO. So that's about a wash. They are using existing FEC tracks north until the Space coast.

Your right, ground prep is probably why. The median of I-4 is ready for track installation, just need to build bridges over local roads. The MCO to Space coast section would need to have I-95 bridged over it. The section through the Deseret Ranch will need a lot of work. If I remember correctly from the last trip, there's a lot of marshy/swampy ground and they will have to bridge the St John's river.
 
the.dreamfinder

the.dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Voxel

Voxel

President of Progress City
lazyboy97o said:
If anyone is taking the drive out towards Cape Canaveral, land clearing along the Beachline is visible near Innovation Way. The Innovation Way overpass was built to accommodate the train.
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I'm still curious to how the line with navigation the other exits. I'm always looking for clues when taking the B-line.
 

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