Brightline’s Orlando service debuts: What does this mean for Tampa?

Nearly 200 people aboard Brightline’s commuter rail train arrived inside Orlando International Airport’s new mass transit terminal Sept. 22 – marking a historic day for the private rail operator that plans to extend service into Tampa. 

The new route spans 235 miles between Miami and Orlando via a three-and-a-half-hour trip. The high-speed train can travel up to 125 miles per hour at certain segments.

Brightline first launched service in Florida in 2018, linking Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. In 2022, the line extended to Boca Raton and Aventura. 

“We are hard at work extending from Orlando to Tampa, but we are also looking at stations between Orlando and Miami,” Brightline CEO Mike Reininger told reporters during the celebration. 

He also claimed that the team has communicated with Tampa Mayor Jane Castor. 

The platform of Brightline’s Orlando station. The Orlando stop is the only intercity passenger rail station located at a U.S. airport. 

Brightline representatives have never disclosed the exact location of a Tampa terminus, but they finalized agreements with the state on a Tampa-to-Orlando connection by running along the Interstate I-4 envelope. Brightline spokeswoman Christine Kefauver previously said the trains may connect into Ybor City, as many business leaders have suspected. 

“The line would follow I-4 and eventually terminate in Ybor City and the downtown area,” Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen said to the St. Pete Catalyst. He’s met with the Brightline team in South Florida. 

“Elected officials have expressed enthusiasm for this concept and want to be part of it. It’s an easy sell; we need to do something about the I-4 connection to Orlando. It’s clogged, unsafe and is a huge freight corridor,” Cohen said. “It’s been 13 years since [former governor] Rick Scott didn’t take federal money for a train.” 

In 2011, Scott scrapped a deal for a Tampa-Orlando high-speed rail project, rejecting $2.4 billion in federal funds – a move that drew large criticism from transit advocates. 

Brightline, which is privately funded, reported the Tampa stop could become operational by 2028; however, Brightline execs have historically made premature project timeline estimations. 

A previous map of Brightline’s alignment for Tampa. Image: Brightline/Hillsborough County documents. 

The plan to connect South Florida to Orlando was initiated in 2019 and had an estimated opening date of 2022. Within the four-year period, numerous infrastructure projects took shape for the debut. 

Crews constructed a new double track under a railway. They also built a 35-mile alignment along the Beachline Expressway/State Road 528 and 56 bridges. 

Brightline’s reports claim the overall $6 billion project will generate 10,000 jobs and approximately $6.4 billion in direct economic impact to the region.

The ticket prices start at $79 each way for adult passengers traveling between Orlando and Miami. 

Ryan Rosberg, a senior research analyst at Nuveen and significant investor in Brightline, told media members that the rail company has “laid the blueprint for high-speed rail in how it could be built with private dollars versus government dollars.” 

It wasn’t until late last year that the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority introduced the SunRunner, the first and only bus rapid transit service in the region, connecting downtown St. Pete and St. Pete Beach travelers via a 10.3-mile route. 

“Our Achilles heel is transportation,” Dave Bevirt, EVP of Strategic Property Partners, said at a recent Entrepreneurs Organization of Tampa Bay. SPP is the commercial real estate firm behind Water Street Tampa. 

“AFT [All For Transportation initiative designed to leverage taxes for public transit] was and still is critically important for the vitality of a long-growth market. When you look at Austin and Nashville, those markets did not plan effectively … We recognize it, but we are struggling as a region to get on board and get better buses, safer bridges and light rail.”

Bevirt explained how Tampa’s biggest drawback was recruiting and retaining talent, but that has quickly evolved into its strong suit and transportation has taken a front seat in that discussion. 

“Someone asked me, ‘How can I grow my business downtown if I can’t pay somebody the wages this person wants to earn, and they live 10 miles away with no [mass] public transportation?’ Those are the issues we hear about,” Bevirt said.