Just weeks after acquiring Florida East Coast Industries (FECI), parent of Florida East Coast Railway (FECR), a Japanese hedge fund is close to a deal to sell the regional carrier to Ferromex, Mexico’s largest railroad by mileage, for a reported $2 billion.
SoftBank Group Corp. has acquired Fortress Investment Group LLC, parent of Florida East Coast Railway and TRAC Intermodal, for $3.3 billion in cash.
Siemens announced Dec. 14 that its first Brightline trainset, comprised of two locomotives and four coaches adorned in Brightline Blue, is complete and has left the company’s manufacturing hub in Sacramento, Calif.
Brightline’s first Siemens Charger diesel-electric locomotive has successfully completed initial testing and operated for the first time, powered by its Cummins QSK95 diesel engine, on the quarter-mile test track at the Siemens manufacturing facility in Sacramento, Calif.
The panamax era has begun in Miami, and Florida East Coast Railway (FECR) stands ready to handle intermodal containers from the Pacific Rim arriving on the gargantuan ships via the enlarged Panama Canal.
Brightline announced June 28 that it is celebrating another milestone in the building of its trainsets as it installed the Cummins prime-mover into its first diesel-electric Charger locomotive at the Siemens manufacturing facility in Sacramento, Calif. where the trainsets are being built.
All Aboard Florida, the intercity passenger subsidiary of Florida East Coast Railway (FEC), announced on Nov. 9, 2015 that its Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Orlando service will be branded Brightline and also revealed the first artist’s impressions of the fleet of Siemens-supplied trainsets that will enter service when the first phase of the project is launched in mid-2017.
Florida East Coast Industries subsidiary Flagler Global Logistics on July 27, 2015 broke ground on the new Titusville Logistics Center, Port Canaveral, Fla.’s first multimodal inland port facility. When complete, the center will accommodate up to 2.9 million square feet of industrial development, “offering flexible warehouse and distribution options with multi-modal transportation connections.”
Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) on July 11, 2015 opened a new dispatch center equipped with Wabtec Railway Electronics TDMS (Train Management Dispatching System) technology, which is being utilized to assist FEC train dispatchers in managing CTC (centralized traffic control) and TWC (track warrant control) across FEC’s 351-mile system.
Florida East Coast Railway (FECR) is expanding its intermodal rail service into Central Florida to include next-day service to Fort Pierce on weekends. Previously, FECR provided next-day service to Fort Pierce six days per week.