Brightline’s Florida train

Brightline, through subsidiaries Florida East Coast Industries and All Aboard Florida, opened its Fort Lauderdale-west Palm Beach link of the Florida rail line Jan. 13.

It added the Miami southern terminus May 19 and is working to connect to the north to Orlando via Cocoa, Florida, with a station near Orlando International Airport.

Brightline is using existing track used by freight trains on the Florida East Coast Railway between West Palm Beach and Cocoa but will build 40 miles of new track between Cocoa and Orlando. The Orlando section of the route, which will extend the track to a total 235 miles, is expected to begin construction later this year and be completed in 2020.

The company also is in preliminary development stages for a new link between Orlando and Tampa. said they expect to be able complete the undertaking for less than the projected $7 billion thanks to their experience and existing relationships with suppliers, including Sacramento, California-based Siemens USA, for track and train sets.

Xpresswest completed most of the legwork for permits to build across multiple government jurisdictions in California and Nevada between 2005 and 2016. Financing was always a sticking point for the company, which tried to get a federal loan through the Federal Railroad Administration’s Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing loan program.

Those efforts were thwarted by Republican congressional leaders Rep. Paul Ryan and former Sen. Jeff Sessions, who said they were uncomfortable with the size of the loan and Xpresswest’s ability to pay it back.

The company once had a joint-venture agreement with China Railway International to assist with financing but cut ties with the company in 2016, stating that it had failed to meet several performance deadlines.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @Rickvelotta on Twitter.