If you follow All Aboard Ohio, you see us talk quite a bit about Amtrak and their service. With the exception of local transit service, Amtrak is the exclusive provider for passenger service in our part of the country - including all city-to-city service in Ohio. In other parts of the country, however, new providers have recently entered the market - most notably Brightline in Florida and their sister company Brightline West in California and Nevada. We're often asked, "is Brightline an option for Ohio?"

The short answer is "probably not" but that doesn't mean we can't learn from what they do to make our proposed passenger rail expansion more robust. Let's talk about Brightline's history, their business model, what is transferable to other regions, and what isn't.

What is Brightline?

Brightline began passenger service along Florida's east coast in 2018, connecting the cities of Miami and West Palm Beach, and has since been extended to include service to Orlando. Ridership has grown year over year (excepting the pandemic years) from 579k in 2018 to over 2 million in 2023. Ridership numbers reported through September indicate 2024's numbers will break 2.5 million. Brightline equipment is very similar to Amtrak's new fleet, and has operating speeds as high as 125mph along the corridor. In addition to route and service expansion plans in Florida, Brightline West is under development and will connect the cities of Los Angeles, California and Las Vegas, Nevada.

What's Unique About Brightline

Brightline enjoys several attributes that have driven their early success that aren't easily duplicated outside of their operating area. First and foremost, this area of the country enjoys population density that is simply not found in other regions. As we learned from the LinkUS plans in Columbus this fall, many of the federal funding programs have population density components that must be met to draw down the dollars needed for capital improvements and general development. Although Ohio has pockets of density, Brightline's routing enjoys dense population centers along nearly the entire corridor, connecting one of the world's busiest airports in Miami to one of the world's busiest tourist attractions in Orlando - unique to their geography.

Brightline's ownership also gives them a unique advantage. The Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) started Brightline as a wholly owned subsidiary in 2012. This allowed rapid development of the corridor along existing FEC right of way, avoiding the issues with eminent domain and operations often seen in other large infrastructure projects. Relationships like this are rare, and not easily translated to other regions. Development of state-sponsored passenger routes under the FRA Corridor ID program will require cooperation with the host railroads in most cases - a challenge that Brightline does not have.

What We Can Learn from Brightline

Although the biggest advantages that Brightline enjoys are unlikely to help Ohio's routes, there are lessons we can learn from their operations. As stations were developed along their corridor, Brightline was intentional about the experience. Station buildings also house a variety of retail and dining, with other spaces available to general business - very similar to the Japanese model of passenger rail development. This offers an additional revenue stream - in Brightline's case, this is direct revenue, but rail-driven business development can provide both direct and indirect revenue for Ohio.

Brightline is also able to maintain tighter schedules and higher speeds by using dedicated passenger rail infrastructure. While quite a bit more expensive, this separates passenger operations from freight operations, reducing the impact on both. While Ohio is unlikely to have dedicated passenger infrastructure in the short term, as our network and demand both grow, the potential will be there.

Finally, the most positive thing we can learn from Brightline is their development timeline. Brightline began their development in 2012 and had operational service just six years later in 2018. If Ohio is able to hold the same schedule, service along our state-sponsored corridors could begin as early as 2030.