What’s it like to ride Brightline on a normal day? | BRAND NEW Orlando Extension

40 Comments

1. I'm glad you mentioned that he actually had three wives because I've seen others simply assume he had two because of the bar! The story of his wives is so interesting. Mary Harkness Flagler was the mother of his three children. After Mary died, Henry married her nurse-caregiver, Ida Alice Shourds. Ida Alice, called Alicia by her husband, was much younger than Mr. Flagler. After being declared incurably insane, Ida Alice was hospitalized. Flagler obtained a divorce and married Mary Lily Kenan, who was with him at his death in 1913 and inherited his wealth, and she suddenly died in 1917, with people believing foul play was involved.

   And to be more specific into the Acela's distance vs Brightline's: The Northeast Corridor covers 457 miles or 735 km while the Brightline journey between Orlando and Miami is 235 miles or 378 km. Is it a nice and fast intercity service? Yes! Is it HSR? Not really, but it's still a fast intercity service competitive to driving and that's the point! Not every new rail service in North America has to be HSR! And speed isn't the only thing that makes an intercity service great, it's also frequency, which Brightline still excels at! Rail is part of the US's heritage, and the more transit options that people have as an alternative to driving, whether it's Amtrak or something like Brightline, the better!

2. I’m surprised US still building diesel based new trains in years of 2023😅

3. One thing is easy ramp – level access – something the eu needs to work on.

4. You are a great presenter, Thom. You have a remarkably mature critical mind. p.s. your not bad to look at.

5. 8:00"Two of the three wives that he had" Not at the same time, presumably

6. You certainly should have to go through security to ride a train! Anyone who doesn't understand this stuff frightens me lol

7. Yes! A review on a normal day!

   I imagine that with their Tampa expansion, once they are able to build and launch it, they could probably end up being an easier way for tourists to get to the Disney World or Universal Studios Florida resorts, depending on a number of factors including station locations and transport options to and from the station.

8. 4:17That people mover looks awesome!

9. The train it a farse no one uses it, it is over priced and no one wanted it and no one rides it eny me day it's almost empty

10. bro you should try first high speed train in southeast asia

11. Ohh, the California Zephyr… we have a love-hate relationship for sure

12. Love it, so amazing all the beautiful trains coming out, and it seems you are the first to know about it, keep it up, thank you for sharing

13. Why didn't it stop at Boca?

14. Regional rail in Victoria "Vline " costs $10.00 per day or $5.00 concession anywhere in the state plus free travel in zones 1&2 in Melbourne on bus tram or train. Vic is 64% larger than Florida.

15. Honestly, I have very little positive to say about Brightline after watching this video. It may be a good train service by US standards, but I would never ever accept such here in Finland.

16. I enjoyed this thorough and honest video and appreciate the time and effort you took to give us this. I believe it’s an exciting concept and I hope it spreads nationwide. The festive trains and stations are very appealing!!! Awesome!!!

17. I enjoyed this video and look forward to riding the extension – probably next year. I have ridden in both classes between Miami and West Palm Beach and agree that it's the addition of good food that makes the higher class worth it! Also true for Amtrak, which only offers "complimentary" food in sleepers and Acela First, along with access to Metropolitan Lounges where available. Ah, but Brightline seems to have a Metropolitan Lounge equivalent at every station! Also, we seem to agree on window wrapping. It does detract from the experience. Personally, I think there should be a Federal law against window wrapping on passenger transit – even on privately-owned ones.

18. I just came back from Vacation in China and their HSR hits 350 kph and smooth as silk. I'm heading to Florida this winter and will check it out. But I think it might feel like hoping from a super car to a Volkswagen beetle.

19. I see what you mean about the annoying little dots.

20. Can confirm as a Floridian that Floridians don’t know how to drive near railroad crossings. The only trains we’re really used to in the majority of the state are very slow moving freight trains and people think they can get through the crossings in time 😐 I’m excited about this, it’s so needed here and I hope they can expand it along the west coast as a loop!!

21. The most needed High Speed Rail in USA should be between Washington DC and Boston, with New York City in between. The 457 miles (735km) should have a fully elevated tracks running at 220mph (350kph) speed which needs just 2.5 hours for express service or 3.5 hours on regular stops service. This will save Americans millions of productive hours yearly.

22. Great video!
    Also that is interesting how in the previous video you compare the capitol Subway to “a sideways elevator” as my dad once said the subway is like an elevator that goes sideways (which sorta got me into trains)
    Also have you heard of Miles in Transit? You two would get along great!

23. Hi.the video is very good,Orlando & Miami are good & lovely cities.thanks

24. "Has Brightline finally ushered American railways into the 21st century?" No. They've finally ushered American railways into the 1970s. That service is very much like the InterCity 125 in the UK in the 1970s. I mean, the interiors are a different colour because fashions are different, but otherwise, this is a service that is getting the best out of a legacy line, not a true high-speed service.

    There are a bunch of corridors in the US that would really benefit from true high-speed service, but won't get it.

    Of course, true high-speed rail is a very old technology anyway – the Tokaido Shinkansen opened in 1964! – but it has taken a very long time to expand; by 1980 there were only two or three high-speed lines open (depending on your view of whether the direttissima's partial opening counts or not), so, like, I suspect, many other people, I tend to think of it as really starting in the 1980s and 1990s.

25. Orlando is democratically controlled. It is petty Ron you can thank for where sunrail stations, and routes, go.

26. Tbh I think for what it's worth, the Northeast Corridor meets the definitions of "upgraded existing railway exceeding speeds of 200kmh/124mph", specifically between DC and NYC. It may not be revolutionary, but for what it's worth, the Northeast Corridor is still novel in North America for being an actual high speed rail corridor. A properly electrified railway, even if it shares regional and commuter trains, it's still closer to what the rest of the world's developed rail systems have than most of North America has elsewhere.

27. The trains you are using are the ones used on the European lines built by the same folks

28. 5:24 Glad I'm not the only one who thinks the location of Orlando's station being in the airport rather than the downtown is quite weird. While I do think the extension might be more worthwhile when it is further extended to the Convention Center & theme parks (which should give it a high ridership, especially during the peak tourist seasons), I still think it should have run through the downtown area (interchanging with the Sunrail line) instead of the airport, because that way it still would have served the city itself rather than a site which is pretty much outside the city and it would have served all the main important points of the city (the Downtown, Convention Center & theme parks – Disney & Universal). But in the present time, extending the Sunrail line to the airport (the Brightline track does link with Sunrail, so its possible) later on seems the next best thing for a possible downtown Orlando connection and I also do think if Brightline were to build a branch from Tampa running through Orlando to Jacksonville, they could route that through the downtown area of Orlando. Anyway, still looks like a great train system and its still encouraging to see the development of modern intercity rail in the USA given the car-centric perceptions, commenting from across the pond here in the UK.

29. Youre absolutely right that day to day operations are infinitely more telling of the quality of service than opening day commotion. Thanks for providing a unique perspective on train travel youtube

30. The accidents at Brightline crossings aren't the sole fault of 'stupid Florida drivers'; they're caused by Brightline cutting corners when it comes to safety at their crossings. If "stupid Florida drivers" were the reason that Brightline had so many collisions then you'd expect the other Florida railroads to also have a lot of collisions but they don't. Brightline is the only railroad in Florida that has significantly deadlier crossings than the rest of the country (and by a huge margin); the rest of the railroads in the state have pretty average collision frequencies.

31. I wouldn't describe the drivers that get hit by Bright Line as "bad drivers" as much as I'd simply state that they are narcissist. People that get hit at crossings, knowingly drive past the gates since they think rules don't apply to them. We all know the dangers of doing this, but when a person has a self centered and entitled attitude, the consequences of their actions make the 6:00 PM news.
    There's no way a few trains can get them all. Their numbers are increasing.

32. Did you have to go through TSA to get the Brightline station?

33. (Correct me if I'm wrong) I'm pretty sure the International Union of Railways considers a railway to be high speed at 125 mph if it is reusing old track, and why should it matter whether the rail was built yesterday or 100 years ago as long as it's going fast,? under that definition, the original Japanese bullet train wouldn't have counted. Also under the International Union of Railways acela(and NE regional) would count(for part of the journey), since(again, correct me if I'm wrong) they use mostly track not originally built for HSR, so if you want to abide by the International Union of Railways you should count acela and NE regional as HSR. If you think all HSR needs to be over 250KPH then don't use the International Union of Railways as a source for why Brightline isn't. but ignore it when saying Acela isn't. Also, the entirety of the 125MPH section is grade-separated.

34. Brightline isn’t perfect, but it accomplishes connecting cities that are too close to fly. I would use it if in Florida.

35. see what you meant about the dots, nice video sent here by nonstop eurotrip

36. I fully agree with your comments.These are beautifull trains but certainly not high speed.Anyway I think that it is a first step to the wright direction.I think that americans are thinking more and more of rail travel and and that is a good thing!Thank you for the very nice video….

37. Such a cool, reliable rail line!!! No frivolous “pod” technology, just something tried and true that works really efficiently and effectively!! Florida definitely needed this!

38. Is the food in the Premium Lounge really free? I think you’re paying for it, it’s built into the higher price ticket.

39. Nice video and very nice train! .. It's a bit unusual for us from continental Europe to see a high-speed train in diesel traction. I hope I'll manage to try this train sometime 🙂 Greetings from Prague 🙂

40. Meanwhile in the northeast Amtrak is still struggling to get their upgraded Acela approved… 😤

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