Passenger Trains > Brightline claims operational profitability.

Article links to an CNBC interview with Brightline chairman. Details are lacking but they are claiming to have reached operational profitability in March with 170,000 riders.

“We never really intended to make money on that segment on a standalone basis,” Brightline chairman Wes Edens told CNBC.


https://www.thenextmiami.com/demand-for-brightline-so-high-that-it-just-earned-a-south-segment-profit-never-really-intended/?fbclid=IwAR2oZE-0JGjPFPL2CWOAbLZtNP6ovla7rG57FAVILdlkVeszwMa7-z8i3-g

If they didn't intend to make a profit why did they build it?

PHall Wrote:
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> If they didn't intend to make a profit why did they build it?

They never expected to make a profit on the Miami-West Palm Beach segment alone, which has been open for several years.

CPR_4000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PHall Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > If they didn't intend to make a profit why did
> they build it?
>
> They never expected to make a profit on the
> Miami-West Palm Beach segment alone, which has
> been open for several years.

Yep. Invest early for the big picture. Eat the loss in the near term, make more in the long term.

BrightLine's sister companies have done extremely well in the real estate development business.

The stations have created their own boom on property around the stations.

Posted from Android

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> BrightLine's sister companies have done extremely
> well in the real estate development business.
>
> The stations have created their own boom on
> property around the stations.

Correct.  This was a big reason for starting Brightline in the first place.  They would make their money on real estate development.  Not unlike the reasons for building Interurban systems 100+ years ago.  

It's only a matter of time before Fortress spins off the passenger rail component.
Why would investors want to give away real estate profits to run the passenger trains?
Their high interest rates will also dictate this!  It's hard to believe the soft office real estate
market hasn't affected that part of their model?  I guess you can no wrong in Florida.

"Stephen Gardner, call your office."

mp51w Wrote:
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> It's only a matter of time before Fortress spins
> off the passenger rail component.
> Why would investors want to give away real estate
> profits to run the passenger trains?
> Their high interest rates will also dictate
> this!  It's hard to believe the soft office real
> estate
> market hasn't affected that part of their model? 
> I guess you can no wrong in Florida.


Unless you're the Walt Disney Company.

mp51w Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's only a matter of time before Fortress spins
> off the passenger rail component.
> Why would investors want to give away real estate
> profits to run the passenger trains?
> Their high interest rates will also dictate
> this!  It's hard to believe the soft office real
> estate
> market hasn't affected that part of their model? 
> I guess you can no wrong in Florida.

You've been saying this forever now and yet they continue as is with expansion plans to Florida and hinted at Jacksonville after stating they have the passenger rights to the FEC corridor. It does sound like they do plan a very large investment into the Cocoa property they purchased with a large station, office, hotel, and apartments, similar to West Palm Beach. Supposedly one of them will be a rocket launch viewing from the roof top since it would be high enough to see all of the launch pads from that location.

Bring it on

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> BrightLine's sister companies have done extremely
> well in the real estate development business.
>
> The stations have created their own boom on
> property around the stations.

That's in contrast to the "Transit Villages" here in the West Coast, which hasn't helped train ridership much, if at all.

I suspect people at Fortress (real estate and Brightline) used their brains, and thought about the everyday folks. When things are convenient, we use them. Pretty simple. A lesson for the arrogant "build it and they will come" losers. And nope, this isn't about Florida vs. California - give that useless rivalry a rest.

The Fortress folks accumulated a lot of vacant or under used land around its original stations. A little removed from downtown, so much cheaper.

The section around West Palm Beach station has been developed and leased. The next section is just north of the station and West of the tracks.

When Fort Pierce turned down the BrightLine development plan and gave the land to Marriott, talk about a new station on that site vanished.

Posted from Android

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> When Fort Pierce turned down the BrightLine
> development plan and gave the land to Marriott,
> talk about a new station on that site vanished.

So Ft. Pierce has screwed itself ?

ts1457 Wrote:
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> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > When Fort Pierce turned down the BrightLine
> > development plan and gave the land to Marriott,
> > talk about a new station on that site vanished.
>
> So Ft. Pierce has screwed itself ?

So far, yes.

Posted from Android

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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 > > So Ft. Pierce has screwed itself ?
>
> So far, yes.

With the good possibility of a Brightline extension to Jacksonville, Ft. Pierce has given up being a high-accessibility node in the network

Vero Beach and Port St Lucie have expressed no interest for stops in their towns.

It's possible a future Fort Pierce station could happen in a nearby location. If BrightLine etc has a piece of the action.

Posted from Android

zorz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CPR_4000 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > PHall Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > If they didn't intend to make a profit why
> did
> > they build it?
> >
> > They never expected to make a profit on the
> > Miami-West Palm Beach segment alone, which has
> > been open for several years.
>
> Yep. Invest early for the big picture. Eat the
> loss in the near term, make more in the long term.

Total anathema to the cult of PSR/Wall Street.

It’ll never work, nothing to see here, move along…

Posted from iPhone

Topfuel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > BrightLine's sister companies have done
> extremely
> > well in the real estate development business.
> >
> > The stations have created their own boom on
> > property around the stations.
>
> Correct.  This was a big reason for starting
> Brightline in the first place.  They would make
> their money on real estate development.  Not
> unlike the reasons for building Interurban systems
> 100+ years ago.  

How did that work out ?

mp51w Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's only a matter of time before Fortress spins
> off the passenger rail component.
> Why would investors want to give away real estate
> profits to run the passenger trains?
> Their high interest rates will also dictate
> this!  It's hard to believe the soft office real
> estate
> market hasn't affected that part of their model? 
> I guess you can no wrong in Florida.

Florida is booming. California, Illinois and New York not so much. "Transit Villages" are not something you want to live next door to on the west coast.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/23 21:36 by SanDiegan.