D.Carleton Very hard as Brightline doesn’t go to Miami yet.
When is Brightline expected to begin service to Miami?
Rio Grande Valley, CFI,CFII
CSX goes through downtown Orlando (before FDOT bought the tracks, that is). WPB is the closest point between FECR and CSX in south Florida. In Jacksonville, CSX comes close to downtown but the historic passenger station downtown was on FECR or darn close to end of FECR property. CSX (or predecessor lines) also went/still goes into the downtowns of Lakeland, St Petersburg, Clearwater, Bradenton, and Ft Myers. I don't know about Pensacola, Tallahassee, or Gainesville.
If you have never been to Florida, the FEC tracks which Brightline travels on travel direct downtown to downtown between all the cities on the East Coast (hence the name of the railway). CSX operates at the closest to FEC that I can remember was about 4-5 miles. Distance is greater as you head up the coast towards the proposed Tampa cutoff because CSX curves inland then curves back towards the coast but rarely does CSX go downtown to downtown anywhere in Florida except maybe Jacksonville and Tampa. They didn't even make it to downtown Naples when they had passenger service there......their old Depot is out in the boonies there quite a bit.
Brian_TampaI think he probably knows that ;) But at WPB the stations are not far apart and the downtown trolley bus operates between the two stations (or at least very close to Brightline). FTL is quite a distance so not sure if that transfer is really doable for most people. Miami will of course have Metrorail adjacent to and TriRail at the Brightline station. The Amtrak station at Hialeah is too far away and would involve several changes of transportation modes. If travelling on Amtrak from up north, I would suggest transferring to Brightline at WPB.
But at WPB the stations are not far apart and the downtown trolley bus operates between the two stations (or at least very close to Brightline). FTL is quite a distance so not sure if that transfer is really doable for most people.
Miami will of course have Metrorail adjacent to and TriRail at the Brightline station. The Amtrak station at Hialeah is too far away and would involve several changes of transportation modes.
If travelling on Amtrak from up north, I would suggest transferring to Brightline at WPB.
Remember Amtrak and Tri-Rail operate on former CSX trackage. Brightline operates on FEC trackage.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
I think he probably knows that ;)
Very hard as Brightline doesn’t go to Miami yet.
Editor Emeritus, This Week at Amtrak
How easy (or not) is transfer to Brightline fron Amtrak?
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