Brightline ridership shows steady gains
Written by Railway Age Staff
Brightline's five trains at Workshop b in West Palm Beach. Photo: Wikipedia/Patrickhamiltonbrightline
Ridership and revenue has steadily increased for the first new private U.S. passenger rail service in decades.
Brightline, the South Florida higher-speed operator, carried 74,780 riders and collected $663,700 in ticket revenue from mid-January through March.
In a quarterly unaudited financial statement provided to the federal Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board and reported by TCPalm.com, ridership “exceeded expectations,” and grew each month after its Jan. 19 debut as a result of increased “awareness and demand for the company’s service.”
The data covers service between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale to March 31. January saw 17,800 passengers and $146,500 in ticket revenue; February: 24,100 passengers, $220,000, and March: 32,900 passengers, $297,300.
Brightline opened service from its new Miami station May 19.
The documents are required by a continuing disclosure agreement as part of Brightline’s $600 million private-activity bond offering.
Brightline’s Smart service attracted 40,600 passengers and generated $275,000. The higher-priced Select ticket accounted for 34,200 passengers and $388,600 in revenue.
In the documents, Brightline said it had been cleared to develop a planned extension from West Palm Beach to Orlando International Airport.
“We have obtained necessary approvals to extend our network to Orlando and are evaluating plans to commence construction,” Brightline stated in the documents. Brightline earlier announced plans for an Orlando-Tampa line.
