Focus on: Virgin Rail stateside

THE ENERGY AND ENTHUSIASM OF THE SIR RICHARDʼS RAIL BRAND IS MAKING ITS PRESENCE FELT IN THE U.S. Roger Williams discovers how

florida’s high-speed railway ‘Brightline’, the nation’s only privately-owned scheduled train service, has announced a strategic partnership with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and will become Virgin Trains USA.

The move is a significant one. Branson has already revolutionised the UK’s intercity railways and transatlantic air travel and noted: “Brightline is at the forefront of innovation in this market and the ideal partner for Virgin to work with to alter perceptions and travelling habits across the U.S.”

style leader

Onboard Brightline’s Florida trains, customers already enjoy many of the services synonymous with Virgin’s style. There are plenty of positive, helpful staff and in Select class customers are offered complimentary coffee, snacks, breakfast pastries or cheese, crackers and cold meats. A full bar service, with local beers such as Jai Alai IPA, is also available, and the trains feature unique restrooms and small grab handles on the seats to aid accessibility.

Brightline’s management team is being retained, so the excellent delivery of the current onboard service standards should continue.

Going West

Initially, the Florida services from Miami to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach will extend to take in the huge Orlando and Tampa markets, allowing literally millions of visitors to Disney and Universal to arrive in resort by train.

While this is a logical expansion for a single state rail operator, it is the rest of the U.S. that Branson will no doubt have his eye on.

And that is because Virgin Rail USA could benefit from substantial opportunities on the West Coast and in other regions, while also hoping to link rail customers with all the other Virgin Group branded services.

Prior to the Virgin deal Brightline has also bought into XpressWest, a highspeed rail venture aiming to run between Southern California and Las Vegas beginning in 2022. If that was able to extend all the way to Los Angeles, Virgin could be sitting on a gold mine. Either way, there is real potential with the Las Vegas route, which similar to Orlando attracts huge numbers of visitors. Whether that’s a good bet for Branson or just a wild throw of the dice remains to be seen! •

Branson has already revolutionised the UK's intercity railways