By Wayne K. Roustan
Sun Sentinel
December 18, 2017
Getting from South Florida to Orlando could be faster now that the federal government has approved the next phase of Brightline’s high-speed passenger rail service that could begin construction early next year.
The Federal Railroad Administration issued a decision Friday that essentially got the Miami-to-Orlando route back on track after Brightline’s parent-company, All Aboard Florida, modified its plans.
“This is the most critical and final step in the extension of Brightline’s service to Orlando, and we are excited to move forward,” Brightline CEO Dave Howard said in a statement. “We look forward to launching service to Miami and starting construction north to Orlando in the first quarter of 2018.”
The trains will reach top speeds of 79 mph between Miami and West Palm Beach, 110 mph to Cocoa, and 125 mph between Cocoa and Orlando.
In coming months, Brightline officials said they will complete designs for the railroad infrastructure to Orlando and for a 70-acre maintenance yard located near a new transportation hub at Orlando International Airport.
On Monday, Brightline officials are scheduled to attend a meeting in Jacksonville with the Florida Development Finance Corporation to discuss the sale of $1.15 billion in tax-exempt bonds to pay for building the link between West Palm Beach and Orlando.
Brightline won approval from the state’s economic development group Oct. 27 to sell $600 million in tax-exempt bonds to private investors to pay for the West Palm Beach to Miami connection.
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