All Aboard Florida has revealed the name of its upcoming rail line that will run between Miami and Orlando: Brightline.
The announcement was made Monday at the MiamiCentral station construction site, where executives from the $2.5 billion project expressed their hopes for Brightline as a better alternative to highways and airports.
A frontal rendering of Brightline’s lead car, which feature yellow-and-black color schemes
“With the introduction of Brightline, we set out to reinvent what traveling by train can mean in America, making it a forward-leaning solution that is a smarter alternative to more cars on crowded roads,” Michael Reininger, president of All Aboard Florida, said in a statement.
Alongside the announcement came new conceptual designs for the train cars, which will feature a black and beehive-yellow color scheme. These trains will regularly traverse the 235 miles between Miami and Orlando, with stops in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.
The designs and branding were conceived by New York’s Rockwell Group, headed by architect David Rockwell.
Typical travel times are expected to be less than 30 minutes between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, less than 60 minutes between Miami and West Palm Beach, and roughly three hours for the entire stretch, according to metrics released by All Aboard.
Brightline will launch with five, four-car trains with capacity for 240 passengers each. The service plans to double that by June 2018, with ten sets of seven-car trains that can hold 356 passengers.
Amenities include complimentary Wi-Fi, power outlets at each seat, food and beverage options, bicycle and luggage storage, as well as wheelchair accessibility. The cars will also be pet friendly.
The line between Miami and West Palm beach is slated to open mid-2017, with the final stretch to Orlando opening later that year.
Besides the train service itself, All Aboard is building a massive mixed-use development called MiamiCentral, located in downtown Miami. The station will have three office and residential towers built above the rails, along with a separate super tower and parking garage with retail space for a grocery store. — Sean Stewart-Muniz
Check out a video of the trains being built below: