Auditors for Brightline say there is “substantial doubt” that the private train company can avoid bankruptcy due to a lack of cash needed to pay off debt.
Why it matters: In car-dependent South Florida, Brightline has struggled to raise its fares or attract enough passengers to sustain the business.
- Bloomberg Law obtained an assessment of the company’s finances by auditor Ernst and Young, which lays out Brightline’s dire financial straits.
The big picture: The company, which launched in 2018, runs local trains between downtown Miami and West Palm Beach, but the region’s lack of transit infrastructure limits last-mile connectivity.
Driving the news: Auditors wrote that Brightline “has stated that it does not currently have the liquid funds necessary to service its debt and meet such other obligations as they become due.”
- Brightline — which has about $5.5 billion in debt — is supposed to pay $117 million in interest this year, WLRN and Bloomberg report.
- The company has delayed payments that were due earlier this year.
The latest: Bloomberg reports that Brightline is seeking to avoid a possible bankruptcy by searching for third-party investors…