While testing their high speed rail between Orlando International Airport and Cocoa Beach, a south-Florida railroad company set the record for the fastest train in the southeast and moved “one step closer” to connecting Orlando to Miami.
Brightline announced that its high-speed trains reached speeds of 130 mph during testing over the past week. is testing high-speed trains that it plans to run to and from the Orlando area.
According to a statement issued by the company on Monday, March 6, the record-breaking speed occurred while the company conducted train testing along a new, 35-mile rail corridor built along the Beachline Expressway/SR 528.
The tracks, which are fenced in with no grade crossings, connect Orlando International Airport and Cocoa.
The company says that once their trains begin carrying passengers, they will operate at maximum speeds of 125 mph.
“This historic feat brings us one step closer to launching Brightline service between Orlando and Miami,” said Patrick Goddard, president of Brightline Trains. Goddard heralded the accomplishment as a “continuation of a dream” that the company has been “working towards for several years.”
The new record breaks the previous record of 110 mph, which the company set last fall during testing through Martin and St. Lucie Counties in Florida’s Treasure Coast.
Founded in 2018, Brightline currently serves Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Aventura, and Boca Raton.
Currently, Brightline operates trains in south Florida at speeds of around 80 mph. It also operates trains with a maximum speed of 110 mph from West Palm Beach to Cocoa.
The company says that it has made “significant infrastructure and safety improvements at all 156 crossings between Cocoa and Palm Beach,” stating that wherever trains will operate at 110 mph, the crossings will “have quad gates or medians to prevent motorists from driving around lowered crossing gates.”
Brightline will continue testing its trains between Orlando International Airport and Cocoa daily, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., throughout the month of March.
For more information on its services, or upcoming projects, visit the Brightline website.