And the Winner is…Stuart! (Updated)

Image Courtesy of Brightline

Brightline made the official announcement on Monday. The site for the railroad’s new “Treasure Coast station” will be Stuart, a town located about 40 miles north of West Palm Beach.

We reported on December 11, 2023, that Brightline had requested proposals from towns or other interested parties to build a new station on Florida’s Treasure Coast, in Martin or St. Lucie Counties, but not in Indian River County further north. The new station is expected to open for service during the second half of 2026.

In a statement issued at Stuart, Brightline said: “Brightline, seamlessly connecting travelers between Central and South Florida, formally announced today that it has selected Martin County and the City of Stuart as the site for its next intercity passenger rail station. The location was chosen after a review of five proposals from private and public landowners along the Brightline/Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) corridor in Martin and St. Lucie counties.” Brightline did not disclose any information about other contestants in its statement, but we have learned that there were two bids from Fort Pierce.

Elected officials and other local business leaders praised the decision in a ceremony held at the site of the station on Monday. It will be located at 500 Southeast Flagler Avenue in downtown Stuart, behind the Martin County Court House. According to Bing Maps, the new station will be located a four-minute walk along Flagler Avenue from the old FEC station, which was torn down in 1969. Brightline runs on the FEC main. Before the FEC discontinued its former passenger service in 1968, the Treasure Coast region had four stops: Stuart and Hobe Sound in Martin County, Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County, and Vero Beach in Indian River County. Martin County borders Palm Beach County to its south. Historically, the Flagler name has an identification with the Railroad. Henry M. Flagler built the FEC and developed many of the towns all along it, from the Jacksonville area to Miami, at the end of the 19^th Century. He extended the railroad to Key West, but it only operated from 1912 until a hurricane destroyed parts of it in 1935.

Brightline’s statement also said: “The decision to select Stuart was driven by a number of key factors, including the location and physical characteristics of the site and the ease with which the site will integrate into Brightline’s existing rail infrastructure network. Brightline also highlighted various dynamics of the local market and the site’s accessibility to key local attractions.”

Reports from local media preceded Brightline’s own announcement by one week. On Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, Scott Sutton and Kate Hussey reported on local station WPTV that a town representative in Stewart confirmed the location of the new station. The same day, Keith Burbank and Wicker Perlis reported the selection of Stuart for the station location in greater detail for the Treasure Coast Newspapers. “The joint Stuart-Martin County application estimated cost of the station, at 500 Southeast Flagler Ave., at $60 million. That cost, according to the proposal, would be shared among the city, the county and Brightline, with $45 million coming from the city and county. The proposal called for the county to donate the site, near the county courthouse, to Stuart, which would lease it to the railroad company for $1 a year for 80 years. As part of the city’s obligation, it would construct a new parking garage.” They also reported: “The Martin County Tourist Development Council also committed up to $800,000, including $200,000 to buy tickets, to market Brightline service.” The report also described the two unsuccessful bids to locate the new station in Fort Pierce. Railway Age has not yet been able to learn about the other two.

In its report that ran the same day, CBS-12 sampled reactions to the news from Stuart residents and business owners, and most of the ones reported were positive; some enthusiastic. Still, one resident was quoted as concerned about downtown traffic. The station location is known as “confusion corner” and the report described it as “a busy roundabout intersection in downtown.”

Martin County’s seat won the contest, even though Fort Pierce, which is St. Lucie County’s seat, is more centrally located in the Treasure Coast region. In a report for WPTV two days later, Kate Hussey quoted Stuart residents, including a local realtor, as speculating that Stuart beat out Fort Pierce because Martin County is “wealthier and spends more and hosts more tourists than St. Lucie County.”

Earlier reports indicated that Brightline would announce its selection on March 11, but that event occurred seven days earlier. Another event is expected to happen earlier than predicted, too. Previous predictions looked at completion of the Stuart station about four years from now. Brightline has now announced that it expects the facility to be in service late in 2026. In the meantime, agreements must be finalized, and the facilities must be built. Those include a new station and a parking deck with capacity for up to 550 vehicles.

A picture of the ceremony (below) when the announcement was made shows ten dignitaries participating in the event, standing in a parking lot with the tracks behind them, looking like they are preparing to catch the next train that comes along.

Meanwhile, Brightline announced March 12 that it plans to begin the formal process of establishing a new station at Cocoa. The new location is in Brevard County, on Florida’s Space Coast. Katie Mitzner, Brightline Director of Public Affairs, said in a statement: “We agree that the time is now to finalize a plan.” Brightline gave no further details. Cocoa is on the FEC main, and is also the place where the new higher-speed line to the Orlando International Airport station branches off from the FEC main to Jacksonville.