Recaps its First Year of Service

MIAMI, Fla. (January 11, 2019) – Happy birthday Brightline! On January 13, Brightline is turning 1, and in honor of the big day, Brightline will be offering $10 fares on short segments for SMART service throughout the entire day. Birthday cupcakes and celebratory surprises will be offered to Brightline’s guests throughout the day. Since opening a year ago, Brightline has helped nearly 600,000 guests travel in a more convenient, efficient and productive way. By connecting Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Brightline has enabled locals and visitors to explore more culture, dining, arts and sporting events across South Florida. Brightline’s convenient, comfortable and reliable service has also served to connect friends and family throughout the region. “We’re beyond excited to celebrate Brightline’s birthday with our teammates and guests who have been part of this special journey,” said Patrick Goddard, Brightline’s president. “Our first year of operations was trail-blazing, and the future only gets brighter from here. Thank you to our friends, family and guests for helping us to transform transportation in the United States.” In just 365 days, Brightline has:

• Carried enough passengers to fill up 9 Super Bowl stadiums

• Traveled as many miles as 195 cross-country trips between Los Angeles and Miami

• Departed more than 8,000 trains

• Hosted 1,540 loving pets

• Had 16,984 excited children on board, and this doesn’t include our trips to the North Pole onboard the Polar Express

• Distributed more than 16,000 train pins

• Shared more than 150,000 pieces of safety literature

• Reduced greenhouse emissions

• Saved countless hours of precious time by transporting guests reliably and conveniently Brightline guests have come from far and wide, including 41 states and 34 different countries (including Japan and Australia) and six continents.

Guests are invited to help celebrate Brightline’s birthday on Sunday. $10 fare tickets can be purchase at gobrightline.com.

By Rachel Galvin

If you have never ridden on Brightline’s high speed train before, you are in for a treat. From the beautiful architecture of its train station to its well-lit large parking structure, Brightline begins to impress before you even get aboard its train. The inside of the station is spotless with a modern seating area complete with a place to charge your phone and access to a cafe where you can buy something to eat or drink, and other items, before hopping on board. (Check out the bathroom with a high tech faucet that has water, soap and a dryer within it).

Brightline began serving passengers from Ft. Lauderdale (101 NW 2 Ave.) to West Palm Beach on Jan. 13 and from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami (600 Miami Central Ave.) on May 19, so now it is taking passengers daily tri-county. Next expansion will be from West Palm Beach to Orlando, and then extend beyond that. It is the only privately owned and maintained passenger rail system in the country.

They certainly have taken great care to maintain their trains. The inside is spotless with some seats facing each other with tables, to make it easier to do work with their onboard WiFi or eat snacks that are available for purchase. The staff is very friendly and accommodating.

They are going out of their way to come up with unique ideas to attract passengers. On Oct. 5, they had their second Tasting Train event. Passengers were greeted on board in either West Palm or Ft. Lauderdale. On the train, they were offered their choice of Antinori wines.

Family-owned, Antinori Wines is the oldest wine producer in the world. They control everything from seed to fermentation and beyond.

This reporter’s selection was the Villa Antinori Toscana Bianco 2016, which was a light and refreshing perfect first choice. They offered up a plastic container of snacks to pair with the wine consisting of crackers, cheese, brie, cheddar and walnuts. There wasn’t too much time for chit chat with fellow passengers as the train made it to Miami in about a quick half hour; time sped by and the ride was so smooth.

Once there, everyone left their seats and headed into the Miami station with a similar feel and setting, but with vibrant artistic murals by Typoe that screamed Miami with its color palette and design. Everything here was carefully thought out, down to the barely noticeable scent pumped in, which was vanilla with a hint of citrus. Guests were treated to a musical performance by Mr. Trombone and a DJ from My Party My Way while they mingled and snacked on more cheese, crackers and the like, as well as a cup with burrata topping chopped tomatoes drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette, passed hors d’ oeuvres like rice balls, stuffed mushrooms, meatballs and more.

“We are focusing on creating a unique experience and re-imagining the way people think about trains. Where else can you have wine tasting with the oldest family-owned wines?” said Ali Soule, director of Public Affairs and Media Relations, who said the next Tasting Train will be scheduled sometime in December, but may not necessarily be centered around wines. Stay tuned…

On the way back to Ft. Lauderdale, another plastic box of treats awaited passengers, including dried fruits and nuts, and pretzels, and a bottle of water.

To find out more about Brightline, visit www.gobrightline.com.