501 Evernia St. — Brightline Corridor With 157 Reported Deaths
Brightline is making a $45 million safety program the centerpiece of its defense as the railroad faces renewed scrutiny over deaths along its Florida corridor. At an appearance in Oakland Park, Chief Executive Patrick Goddard defended the company’s safety record and finances while acknowledging that the company still faces major work on fencing, crossings and its balance sheet.
Brightline said the program covers fencing, flexible delineators, dynamic-envelope pavement striping and improved signs at 327 grade crossings between Miami and Cocoa. The company said work had been completed at more than half of those crossings as of June 17, 2026. Brightline also reported a 30% year-over-year decline in incidents during the first quarter, but that comparison was not presented as a separate count of fatalities. Brightline’s announcement therefore shows a reported change in incidents, not whether deaths declined by the same measure.
What the historical record shows
A Miami Herald investigation counted 182 people killed by Brightline trains, including a fatality during a 2017 test run and deaths since commercial passenger service began in 2018, including 157 in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, and 99 others injured. The tally is a historical count assembled by the Herald, not a new incident total from the Oakland Park appearance. It also included suicides, accidental deaths and cases whose classifications were unresolved or pending, making the total a measure of deaths associated with the trains rather than a single category of crossing crash…