Written by David Peter Alan, Contributing Editor
There is a lot happening at Brightline Florida, the nation’s only private-sector intercity passenger railroad, which runs essentially hourly service between downtown Miami and Orlando International Airport (MCO). While we ran a feature article on Brightline and its operations in Railway Age’s August issue and reported on a court case filed by the freight side of Florida East Coast Railway (FECR) against Brightline, alleging in essence that Brightline is overselling the railroad’s capacity to pursue local operations, the latest situation, which has been brewing for several months, is financial. It could make it difficult for Brightline to expand, or maybe even to keep going, in the future. Nonetheless, Brightline is still going, making new moves, and hoping that the financial picture will improve. That hoped-for improvement might be starting now, but we can’t be sure yet.
A Half-Billion Dollar Loss
When it began operations in 2018 and for about five years thereafter, Brightline operated only in South Florida. Trains first ran between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, and service was extended to downtown Miami soon after. Then Brightline made a splash on Sept. 22, 2023, by extending service to MCO. While the airport is not near downtown Orlando, including the Amtrak station and other transit connections, this marked the first time in decades that a private-sector railroad would built and operate a corridor-length route; a trip that takes 3-1/2 hours end to end.
Now the word is out that Brightline is losing money; lots of it. C.A. Bridges and Chris Persaud reported in the Palm Beach Post on May 5, 2025, that Brightline had booked 3 million trips in 2024 but lost almost $550 million. They reported: “According to the privately run passenger train company, Brightline lost about $549 million in 2024, even though its revenue more than doubled compared to 2023.” They also reported: “A big chunk of that, more than $214 million, happened in May 2024 when Brightline refinanced its debt of about $4.6 billion. The Miami-based company also paid $178 million in interest on its debt, it said in its financial statement for 2024. But even without counting debt-related payments, the South Florida-Orlando train still spent more money than it made last year.”
At first, the Orlando airport service was not particularly helpful to Brightline’s bottom line. Business reporter Tom Hudson reported for Miami NPR station WLRN on July 24, 2024, that the service brought more passengers but not profits “while push continues for commuter rail”; the initiative over which FECR is suing. He reported: “Brightline started running its long distance service in September and those additional paying passengers were responsible for the company’s big jump in ticket revenue. If it weren’t for the passengers and fares between South Florida and Orlando, sales and ridership would have dropped. The increase in revenue did not translate into a profit, though.” Hudson went into detail about Brightline’s financial picture at the time. He noted: “It cost $23 million more to run Brightline’s trains in the first quarter than it brought in in ticket sales and other revenue. It also saw its interest expenses increase. Taken together, Brightline saw its quarterly losses more than double from last year to $116 million of red ink.” He also mentioned the 250% increase in fares on the South Florida part of the line, between Miami and West Palm Beach, which had taken effect the previous month and which we reported in May 2024.
The reports from earlier this year were not good, either. The Orlando Sentinel ran a story on May 27 that bore the headline “Brightline Draws Caution Flags from Wall Street Despite Revenue and Ridership Gains.” Chris Persaud reported the loss in the Post on May 2 saying: “Brightline spent $341 million running and maintaining its trains and stations in 2024, bringing in about $188 million from ticket sales and other sources, for a deficit of more than $153 million.”…