Passenger Trains > FL: More on BrightLine fare increase strategy

Palm Beach Post reporter Mike Diamond reports on the impact that south Florida to Orlando passenger traffic has had on many passengers who seek to ride locally (West Palm to Miami, Aventura to West Palm, etc). The Orlando service is so relatively profitable that available seats for short haul customers have been squeezed. That, in turn, has created angst in places like Boca Raton and West Palm Beach where lifestyles have become oriented to commuter service into downtown Miami. The commuter pass allows for a $10 per day round trip, which is a very good deal. That's going away.

Boca Raton and Palm Beach County paid for a new station and large parking garage on town land, but fear that the shortage of seats and end to commuter discounts will mean fewer commuters. And less pressure on upward housing costs (which they see as a good thing) and development.  This will almost certainly be an issue with the proposed stations in Stuart and Cocoa. If BrightLine is pricing out local travelers, how much should the counties and towns invest?

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/2024/05/07/brightline-ending-10-south-florida-rides-turning-focus-to-orlando/73557828007/
 

Great problem to have

Yield management is something Brightline is learning on the fly. I’m sure they can’t wait for Siemens to deliver their next order which should help with this challenge

Posted from iPhone

The article buries at the bottom, and the above summary leaves out, an important detail:  This is just a temporary situation, with a similar express train starting on parallel Tri-Rail within a few months. 

That would only be one express each way during the week, but unmentioned is that Tri-Rail already began in January shuttle trains to Miami Central from their Metrorail transfer station connecting 13 of their 25 trains per day each way.  A 5 minute connection to half of their Mangonia Park to Miami Airport trains, Tri-Rail takes 2 hours from West Palm Beach to Miami compared to Brightline's 1 hour 20 minutes,  and the express will probably be slightly over an hour and a half.  Between 6 am and 9:10 am Brightline runs 4 trains into Miami, with the new express Tri Rail will run 5.  The lines are mostly within a couple of miles of each other.

Tri-Rail discounted round trips are $8.75 from West Palm Beach, Brightline's commuter package was $20 per roud trip (the $10 fare was one-way).

The new all day Aventura to Miami Central commuter rail service on the FEC has received federal funding for half it's cost and likely will happen in the next few years.  Similar service extending from Aventura to West Palm Beach and further north is in the study phase of the planning process and will also likely come about eventually.   






 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/24 09:05 by baretables.

Why not add more capacity? Clearly 4 car trainsets aren't working anymore as there's often not enough room now.

westcoastrails Wrote:
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> Why not add more capacity? Clearly 4 car trainsets
> aren't working anymore as there's often not enough
> room now.

Amtrakbill knows, as he wrote:

I’m sure they can’t wait for Siemens to deliver their next order which should help with this challenge.

It's a nice challenge to have, unlike "we have dozens of cars out of service at Beech Grove and are trying harder."

The proposed express train on Tri-Rail, which needs several levels of approvals, is indeed a great improvement. I believe all Tri-Rail trains make all stops, and have for years.

But, this express won't address the concerns of places like Boca Raton, which built a station for BrightLine, and find that BrightLine won't sell many tickets to or from their station.  The convenient downtown Boca Ration BrightLine station is about five miles from the Tri-Rail Boca station, and about the same from the Deerfield Beach station. Both are located out in the western suburbs.

westcoastrails Wrote:
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> Why not add more capacity? Clearly 4 car trainsets
> aren't working anymore as there's often not enough
> room now.

They have 30 cars on order, 10 or 15 coming this year.

How is it that the BRIGHTLINE cars from SIEMENS are working fine, but new SIEMENS cars for California are "out of service" due to emergency window problems?  It makes no sense how one agency is doing well, and another isn't, despite using the same equipment?

Madness.  Boy do I wish Budd, Pullman-Standard and Bombardier (when they were good) were still around....

Coach, in an earlier thread on this subject, somebody said that BrightLine bought the off the shelf European package, modified for US crash rules, etc. Siemens has a body shell which can be configured to the customer's needs, or you can buy the stock model for each design.

Amtrak and the states chose extensive modifications and local suppliers. Nothing wrong with that, but it can add complexity.

Posted from Android

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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 local suppliers. 

And in some cases buy America is unavoidable. Amtrak is bound by buy America rules and many federal grant programs require state entities to as well - I'm not sure if any of the state equipment was purchased under federal grants but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. Another difference is the state equipment also does not have a technical services and parts agreement with Siemens - which they are currently trying to enter into so they are much more vulnerable to long material lead times. Supply chain has now become a tongue and cheek punch line for some threads here, but material lead times have been a legitimate issue particularly for the state Chargers - and in fact is the number one issue contributing to the relatively poor availability to meet the current services. There was a recent time where Amtrak PR seemingly inappropriately cited supply chain for a faux pax and they shouldn't obfiscate f*** ups, but that doesn't mean the issue doesn't exist at all and recognizing that doesn't make one an "apologist". Brightline and VIA have such arrangements in place with Siemens - as does Amtrak for the ALC 42 units (and is also including that with the new Acela, the Airo equipment, and will include a similar arrangement for the future bilevel long distance fleet with whichever carmaker gets it.) Much more progress has been made in identifying and correcting problems on the ALC 42 as compared to the state equipment as a result of the agreement being purchased with the units as Siemens has more of an incentive to correct issues - they face financial penalties under the agreement for service disruptions that are the fault of the equipment. With Siemens' willingness to enter into these arrangements where they shoulder some of the risk I can see why buying their equipment is attractive even though it hasn't been issue free.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> But, this express won't address the concerns of
> places like Boca Raton, which built a station for
> BrightLine, and find that BrightLine won't sell
> many tickets to or from their station.  The
> convenient downtown Boca Ration BrightLine station
> is about five miles from the Tri-Rail Boca
> station, and about the same from the Deerfield
> Beach station. Both are located out in the western
> suburbs.

That is incorrect, Tri-Rail runs on the east side of the population almost the entire way from West Palm Beach to Miami, only angling towards the center on the far south end after passing about a mile west of the Brightline Aventura station. 

Brightline's Boca Raton station is 1 mile from the ocean, Tri-Rail's Boca Raton station to the north is only 2 miles west of the ocean, with the suburbs extending another 8.5 miles to the west.  Tri-Rail's Deerfield Beach station to the south is 3 miles from the ocean, while the suburbs continue 11 more miles to the west.  Close to the ocean is dense housing but the majority of the population lives west of the Tri-Rail tracks.

Boca Raton is :56 to Miami on Brightline, Tri-Rail  is 1:20 from Deerfield Beach and 1:26 from their Boca Raton, the express will probably be about 1:08 from Boca Raton.  Longer trip times are incovenient but probably doable for most, especially since with wifi many can use that time working while on the train.

Still doesn't address the FACT that BrightLine scammed Boca Raton into building a station and then throttled ticket sales.

Posted from Android

That is an opinion, the reality is that the Boca Raton station was built just as much for service to Orlando and eventually Tampa, making it easier for the many people in the 41 mile gap between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.  It can still be used by commuters, they just have to pay a higher fare now.  It continues to have the same number of trains serving it as it did before this story broke and there are still plans to add another platform and track once actual commuter rail service is added to the FEC.