Brightline passenger traffic grew 42% in the second quarter, compared to the first quarter

Brightline carried 42 percent more passengers in the second quarter of the year, when the train service started operating in Miami, than in the first quarter.

Brightline also stated in a bond document that it expects third-quarter growth in passenger traffic and revenue “to meet or exceed our second-quarter growth rates.”

Brightline carried 106,090 passengers in the April-June period and 74,780 in the January-March period, according to a bond document. The privately owned passenger train service launched operations between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale in January,

The Palm Beach Post also reported that Brightline’s 180,870 passengers in the first half of the year equaled less than a fifth of the 1.1 million passengers the train service had predicted for the full year.

An expanded schedule could attract more passengers. In August, Brightline expanded its daily service to 16 round trips between West Palm Beach and Miami from 11.

Brightline collected $1.54 million of fare revenue in the second quarter, 132 percent more than in its $663,667 in the first quarter, when many passengers paid discounted introductory fares.

The passenger train service had a $28.3 million net loss in the first quarter, slightly larger than its $28.2 million net loss in the second quarter.

Brightline disclosed the financial results and passenger totals in a bond document because the train service issued $600 million of bonds to finance its startup. [Palm Beach Post] – Mike Seemuth