DGS49
Diamond Member
High-Speed Passenger Train: Buy Tickets Today | Brightline
Ride Brightline & experience a high-speed train unparalleled in speed, comfort, and style. Now servicing 5 destinations in South Florida. Live life on the bright side today.
www.gobrightline.com
As a person with an interest in passenger rail, I have tried the service in the U.S., Europe, and Canada, though not as often as I would have liked. I have been reading about Brightline for years, and traveling to Florida in Winter for about two decades. I decided to give it a try the other day, and took the train from Orlando to Miami and back on Thursday, March 5 (yesterday, as I write this). The train went south at 9:20am and back at 6:45pm, giving me half a day or so to poop around in Miami - which was lovely.
I booked this trip partly because I happened on a discount package on FaceBook, allowing me to pay for two round-trip tickets (me and wife) for only $160. Obviously, this was in Coach.
The terminals in both Orlando (at the airport) and Miami were clean, bright, and had nice places to sit, work (on computer), and eat. The trains themselves (coach class) were furnished with 2+2 seating, comfortable but not plush by any means.
Amtrak regulars know that the toilets are a nagging embarrassment for that service. They are often dirty, the locks don't always work, and many of the latches have their "occupied" marking obliterated, which results in being interrupted during biological functions a regular occurrence.
Not on Brightline. The toilets are large and clean. Like the seating, they are not posh, but good enough for sure.
Airfares in Florida are crazy, and special deals are all over the place, but if you are traveling between Orlando and South Florida I would recommend at least considering the Brightline train. As with air travel, the higher levels of service make no rational sense, doubling the cost for a nicer seats and a bag of nuts, but that's up to you.
