Brightline Trains Florida discussion

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jis said:
I got an email like that too, though I actually do have a ticket to refund. In any case, never look a gift horse in the mouth and run with the Premium Credits :)
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Yeah; I’m going to end up driving with my friend to the conference, and I guess I’ll have some credits if I want to go to something in Orlando in the future.
 
Bob Dylan said:
Maybe Brightline bought a List of everyone who rides trains around Orlando and sent out a Robo Mail to all???

I get these from Airlines I haven't flown on in Years or Ever!!!!
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I got the same email and was just searching around what the schedules look like since I might be in FL in mid September. But I live in Seattle so about as far away as you can get from Miami and still be in the lower 48! Curious to see if I get the premium credit code in the coming days…
 
sitzplatz17 said:
I got the same email and was just searching around what the schedules look like since I might be in FL in mid September. But I live in Seattle so about as far away as you can get from Miami and still be in the lower 48! Curious to see if I get the premium credit code in the coming days…
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I just received the following email stating yesterday's email was an error:

Dear Brightline Guest,

Yesterday you received an email from us that was sent in error. We ask that you kindly disregard the email and apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

The email you received does not pertain to you, and only impacts booked rides between Orlando and South Florida from September 1 to September 6. No further action is required from you.

Thank you for your understanding as we strive to provide you with the highest standard of service.

If you have any questions, please refer to our Help Center to learn more or to get in touch. We look forward to welcoming you aboard Brightline soon.
 
Have a question here about BL’s current route and the speed limits on it. I’ve heard that BL is keeping the WPB to Miami segment at 79mph because of the crossings, but one thing I don’t get is why that’s not a problem when going from WPB to Cocoa where they are permitted for 110 but it’s a problem south of that. Are the crossings unable to adjust their timing based on the speed of the train between WPB and Miami? Or are they wired to be set for one speed and not ever able to be adjusted?

Just given how much $ they are investing in increasing the track speeds up north of WPB, I figured they would be trying to get more speed out of their entire route but idk, perhaps I’m missing something. It seems like there’s a spot or two that are speed limited below 80 as well that are near a series of crossings but perhaps I’m not remembering it well

Just curious if it would make much sense to try to get it up to 110mph. At that point the time reduction and resulting value proposition vs driving really would be too hard to ignore. Ideally you could knock off 10-15 min of time between WPB and Miami.
 
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Touchdowntom9 said:
Just curious if it would make much sense to try to get it up to 110mph. At that point the time reduction and resulting value proposition vs driving really would be too hard to ignore. Ideally you could knock off 10-15 min of time between WPB and Miami.
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There’s only like 70 crow miles between Miami and West Palm; an express service that skipped all the intervening stations might get 15 minutes back, but decelerating into and accelerating out of stations would eat away at that margin enough that it’s not worth the fuel burn and the smashed cars. Some of my Melbourne coworkers aren’t completely sold on how Brevard drivers will react to a train that’s four wagons doing 70 instead of a mile of rocks going 30.

bonzoesc said:
Yeah; I’m going to end up driving with my friend to the conference, and I guess I’ll have some credits if I want to go to something in Orlando in the future.
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It looks like only the northbound cancelled, so we’re flyin’ north and training south.
 
Touchdowntom9 said:
Have a question here about BL’s current route and the speed limits on it. I’ve heard that BL is keeping the WPB to Miami segment at 79mph because of the crossings, but one thing I don’t get is why that’s not a problem when going from WPB to Cocoa where they are permitted for 110 but it’s a problem south of that.
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Just a guess, but I'd assume it's that the number and density of crossings is far higher south of WPB compared to north. It's essentially a solid stretch of urban and suburban development with one crossing after another.
 
Eric S said:
Just a guess, but I'd assume it's that the number and density of crossings is far higher south of WPB compared to north. It's essentially a solid stretch of urban and suburban development with one crossing after another.
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I did a tally along here. There's an average of about two crossings per mile along there (and about half of them would be just about impossible to close).
 
Also, faster speeds between Miami and West Palm would require quad gates at every crossing. Not a bad idea, but from Roaming Railfan's videos it looks surprisingly expensive, at least to rebuild a crossing entirely.
 
JamesWhitcombRiley said:
Also, faster speeds between Miami and West Palm would require quad gates at every crossing. Not a bad idea, but from Roaming Railfan's videos it looks surprisingly expensive, at least to rebuild a crossing entirely.
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They re-did almost all of the crossings in Miami-Dade / Broward. Some didn't get quad gates because the speed in those sections were already below 80mph due to curve restrictions nearby.
(edit: but that might change due to public pressure because people can't stop getting hit by the trains.)
 
wxmeddler said:
They re-did almost all of the crossings in Miami-Dade / Broward. Some didn't get quad gates because the speed in those sections were already below 80mph due to curve restrictions nearby.
(edit: but that might change due to public pressure because people can't stop getting hit by the trains.)
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The crossings just south of Kush Wynwood (where the tracks are at kind of a strange angle to the Miami grid) have the ridiculous plastic posts instead of quad gates, and I’d like to believe it helps but I know in my heart drivers here will find a way.
 
VentureForth said:
I should have bought a first day ticket anticipating such a delay and credit. Oh well. I was actually hoping for an earlier start date.
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I was expecting that, too. When they started selling tickets for September and at the same time said the actual start of service was yet to be determined, it seemed logical to assume that they were shooting for an earlier date.
 
joelkfla said:
I was expecting that, too. When they started selling tickets for September and at the same time said the actual start of service was yet to be determined, it seemed logical to assume that they were shooting for an earlier date.
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I, too, was expecting an earlier start so I delayed purchasing tickets. Neighbors of mine wanted to join me on my first trip, which got complicated trying to please 3 others (and having to lay out the fare for 4 people). I made a decision last night that I wanted to travel by myself and only to WPB (since I had already traveled from WPB-MIA). I just made reservations for the first week in October. I had my choice of almost every seat. I think I chose well - at least I hope so. (4C and 11C).
 
Does anyone know for sure the max diverging speed of the concrete #24s? Someone from Brightline in a presentation once said they were capable of 60 mph but I have always been doubtful of that. I assumed the speed would be the same as a standard wood tie #24 and those already seem plenty fast at 50 mph.
 
I bought my tickets for the first day and have yet to receive any refund, but I got the voucher.
 
Anderson said:
I did a tally along here. There's an average of about two crossings per mile along there (and about half of them would be just about impossible to close).
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This is an interesting point.

I guess as more and more sites are developed, developers and local authorities will seek to add further crossings.

I wonder if there is a way to prevent them from doing this, or if such crossings are unavoidable, to build them to the highest safety standards.
 
west point said:
Bright line announced several months ago that construction MIA - Orlando was complete. Did something on this bridge break causing this additional repair / construction work? Maybe parts had to be ordered to fix these needed repairs and are now just arriving? Would explain September opening delayed?
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This has nothing to do with the current planned introduction of service. It is a separate project to address a long standing problem. This work hasn’t been funded yet. It is a proposal.
 
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