Virgin Trains wants to have stops at Disney, FLL and PortMiami
Brightline, the expresstrain service seeking to expand north to Orlando, is signaling plans for new connections in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando — and possibly to the skies.
According to its latest bond prospectus, Brightline, which is rebranding as Virgin Trains, hopes to bring a stop to Disney World outside Orlando. That station would be a separate branch off its long-term plans to connect to Tampa. Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The company also hopes to bring stops to PortMiami, which would allow train passengers to connect directly to cruise lines, and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. A port spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comments. A spokesman for FLL said airport officials have not spoken with Brightline in about two years.
A report from FlightGlobal.com said that at a recent roadshow presentation for the bond offering, a Brightline official said it is in talks with JetBlue and other air carriers operating out of Orlando to “facilitate transfers” to air terminals.
“We intend to have interline agreements with all major airlines to seamlessly move passengers across our network,” said chief commercial officer Ravneet Bhandari, according to the report.
“The in-terminal connection will be the first in the USA, where existing long-distance airport-rail connections require passengers to ride either a bus or tram between the airport terminal and rail station,” the report said.
“Airline partnerships with long-distance rail operators is common outside the USA. Air France, KLM and Lufthansa all sell connections between flights and longdistance trains at their respective Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam and Frankfurt hubs on their websites, for example.”
Brightline is awaiting approval from a statesponsored agency to approve the sale of $1.5 billion in bonds.