Brightline working on the railroad

Four of five trains are being tested

Brightline has four of its five new trains in South Florida, as the express passenger service prepares to launch in late summer.

Two new trains, BrightOrange and BrightGreen, arrived earlier this month from Sacramento to the rail yard in West Palm Beach. BrightBlue arrived in January, BrightPink followed in March and BrightRed will complete the rainbow with its scheduled arrival in late June.

“[It’s] very exciting, very busy,” said Brightline CEO David Howard, at the recent preview of the Fort Lauderdale train station.

The West Palm Beach station is almost finished, but the MiamiCentral station will take a little longer because it’s a more complex project involving elevated tracks and links to Tri-Rail in downtown Miami.

BrightBlue and BrightPink — each with two diesel-electric engines and four coaches — continue test runs on a 9-mile stretch of track between Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach through Lake Worth and into Lantana. Testing of the BrightOrange and BrightGreen trains will follow.

Engineers are checking to see how well each train operates and how the electronics

interact with signals and gates at railroad crossings. There is also a series of tests required by the Federal Railroad Administration.

Discounted introductory Brightline service between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale is scheduled to begin in late July, with Miami added in late August and full-price service to begin in September.

All five trains are expected to be put into service.

“[It’s] very exciting, very busy.” David Howard, Brightline CEO