Transparency key for Brightline success.

For as exciting as it is, the inaugural week of Brightline’s go-fast train [in South Florida] generated headlines as bad as they get. Brightline train kills woman during VIP ride Brightline kills second person in a week Fledgling AAF/Brightline Claims a Fourth Life The shame of it is, the people who died — including two during the train’s trial runs in previous months — put themselves at risk. By all accounts, they either purposefully or foolishly crossed the tracks in front of a passenger train approaching at speeds of up to 79 mph.

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson called for an investigation. Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, who hails from the Treasure Coast, called for a halt of the new train service until “massive safety flaws” are addressed. And Republican state Rep. Debbie Mayfield of Vero Beach says the Florida Department of Transportation needs more authority over long-distance passenger rail to ensure public safety . ...

Brightline defends its safety procedures and equipment, including its new crossing gates, which now have four arms, up from two, to keep motorists from squeezing through and getting caught on the tracks.

But how do you design a gate that stops pedestrians and bicyclists from getting through?

You’ve got to feel for the locomotive engineer who sees someone on the track, but cannot stop in time to avoid hitting him or her.

Truth is, death by train happens all too often, including a number of suicides.

Last year, Florida had 52 railroad deaths, up from 35 in 2016, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.

Given what’s known about deaths on the track, a higher-profile public-education campaign is long overdue. To work, it needs to be dramatic, like the ads that show the danger of smoking.

Danger may not be the preferred marketing message to send when launching something as spectacular as this long-distance passenger rail service. It’s especially sensitive for Brightline, given that opponents in the Treasure Coast — the region represented by Mast and Mayfield — tried to kill the project by raising safety concerns. They expect the line’s extension to Orlando [in 2021] will disrupt their communities, with no real benefit.

Still, public safety must trump marketing. And given Brightline’s bumpy introduction, a federal investigation is warranted, no question. We also wonder whether the trains will be able to silence their horns, as promised with the arrival of those expensive quad gates.

That said, Brightline took welcome steps last week to improve safety at rail crossings.

It committed to posting temporary, digital warning signs to alert pedestrians and drivers about approaching trains. These are in addition to the lights, signs, alarms and gates already installed.

It plans to position employees at some of the busiest intersections to warn against trying to beat trains across the tracks.

And it committed to a stepped-up public education campaign about staying off the tracks, ads it says have already been running on television and radio. It also intends to continue in-person, community outreach efforts to spread the message to “look, listen and live.”

Bad headlines aside, let us herald the arrival of Brightline, which offers an exciting service for quickly moving people through South Florida.

We’re rooting for Brightline’s success as a business and as a good corporate citizen.

To keep the public onboard, the company should be more forthcoming about its scheduling, its prices and its safety record.

Much is riding on its success.

The deaths from Brightline’s introduction warrant a federal investigation.

A higher-profile education campaign about rail crossings is long overdue.