For Brightline tea leaf readers who are handicapping when the higher speed rail line will start its Orlando service, the Miami-based company has offered yet another sign that it’s a step closer.
Late last week, management informed the state of Florida that it intends to relocate 66 workers from West Palm Beach to Miami and Orlando in a logistical move designed to expedite the preparation of Brightline’s trains each day for its regional service between South and Central Florida.
No job eliminations are planned, and West Palm Beach, currently the northern most point of Brightline’s South Florida service, will continue to be an integral part of the railroad’s system.
But the 66 workers will be moved to the end-points of the expanded network effective Oct. 4. The company said 55 employees, mostly people who serve passengers aboard the trains and around its stations, will be based in downtown Miami, site of the railroad’s MiamiCentral station. Another 11 will be moved to work at Brightline’s newly constructed station at Orlando International Airport’s Terminal C.
The relocation announcement appeared in a so-called WARN notice posted last Friday by the Florida CommerceDepartment under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
“Due to the company opening a new station in Orlando, FL., onboard service will originate from the two ends of the rail line, or Orlando and Miami respectively, to support the preparation (clean, reset, restock) of Brightline trains,” wrote Sandy Pino-Chin, the company’s senior director of people and culture.
“The operation cannot support the necessary activities during a 2-3 minute stop in West Palm Beach and therefore needs to be relocated to Miami,” her letter said.
While the Oct. 4 relocations may imply a startup date at that time, a better timeline for the launch of the South Florida to Central Florida service could be Sept. 22, the latest initial date of sale for tickets to Orlando that appears on the Brightline website.
Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel
Two of Brightline’s trains appear at the company’s new “Basecamp” maintenance facility in Orlando, which soon will become the new northern end point of the higher-speed rail line’s system.Contacted Tuesday, Brightline spokesman Ben Porritt said that while there is still no firm date for the service launch, it’s not far off.
“We’re in the final stretch and hope to announce a start date very soon,” he said.
Train and crew testing along the 170-mile extension between West Palm Beach and Orlando is continuing, and the Federal Railroad Administration, which regulates the nation’s railroads, has yet to give its stamp of approval for certification. But the agency said last month it would come in the “near future.”
The rail line has twice delayed its Central Florida service startup which necessitated the refunding of tickets for trips early this month. The company also offered rental car discounts and passed for future use.
When the extension does become active, Brightline’s current 67-mile short haul service for leisure and commuting business passengers will grow into an inter-regional rail operation that covers more than 230 miles between Miami and Orlando, with intermediate stops at Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach.
