By Mary Hladky
Two years after ecstatic City Council members approved a deal that allowed Brightline to build a Boca Raton train station, construction has begun.
Brightline announced on Dec. 21 that it has started work on a 4.5-story, 455-space parkin
By Mary Hladky
Brightline will resume passenger service between Miami and West Palm Beach on Nov. 8.
The rail company halted its trains in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic but has been working on opening stations in Boca Raton and Aventu
By Mary Hladky
Now that the City Council has given its long-awaited approval, construction of Brightline’s Boca Raton station is imminent. Council members unanimously authorized construction of the station and adjacent parking garage on Aug. 24.
“Thi
By Mary Hladky
Should Elon Musk’s The Boring Co. dig a tunnel to connect the city’s Brightline station to Mizner Park?
Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer has raised that possibility and is inviting the company to make a presentation to the City Council.
Thi
Celebrating the new garden are (l-r) Brightline President Patrick Goddard, City Council members Andy Thomson and Andrea O’Rourke, Mayor Scott Singer, council members Monica Mayotte and Yvette Drucker, Junior League President-elect Jamie Sauer, incomi
By Mary Hladky
At long last, Brightline is about to start preliminary work on its Boca Raton station.
The company is planning to begin constructing a temporary parking lot in March, Ali Soule, Brightline chief of staff, said in an email.
The parking l
The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the city a $16.35 million grant in September that will offset a substantial portion of the costs of building a Brightline train station and parking garage immediately east of the Downtown Library.
Under th
By Mary Hladky
Brightline’s parent company is scrapping a “strategic partnership” with British billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Enterprises, and its Miami-to-West Palm Beach rail service once again will be known as Brightline.
The company announce
Patrick Goddard, president of Virgin Trains, speaks during a news conference after the City Council’s 5-0 vote to OK a station in Boca Raton. From left are Andrea O’Rourke, Mayor Scott Singer, Jeremy Rodgers and Monica Mayotte. Tim Stepien/The Coasta
By Mary Hladky
Boca Raton soon will be home to a Virgin Trains station.
The City Council unanimously voted in favor of an agreement on Dec. 10 that allows construction of a one-story station and 455-space parking garage on city-owned land east of the
By Sallie James
When it comes to fast and furious, Brightline — Florida’s neon-yellow passenger express train service — has proved to be the deadliest train system per mile in America.
According to an Associated Press analysis of Federal Railroad Admi
This south-facing image shows Dixie Highway on the left and a vegetative buffer between the proposed parking garage and the Library Commons neighborhood on the right. Rendering provided
Related Story: Brightline tries to deal with nation’s worst dea
By Jane Smith
Some South County coastal residents reported hearing an unusual number of train horns recently even though quiet zones had been established nearly 18 months ago.
Engineers of Brightline, soon to be Virgin Trains, can blow the horns when
By Mary Hladky
City officials need more detailed information from Virgin Trains USA before negotiations can begin on building a new station in Boca Raton.
City staff and Virgin Trains officials have held two meetings since the company notified the cit
By Jane Smith
The blaring horns from FEC freight trains and Brightline passenger trains will soon stop in most South County cities.
In Boca Raton, a quiet zone was scheduled to begin at 11:59 p.m. May 30. The city’s website explained: “Residents may
By Jane Smith
Coastal residents who live near the FEC tracks will have until at least late June to continue listening to loud train horns from Brightline passenger trains and FEC freight trains.
In mid-April, Brightline said its subcontractor was di
By Jane Smith
As Brightline runs its express passenger rail service between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, safety problems recur at grade crossings.
To improve safety, coastal South County cities continue to add quad-crossing gates that meet i
A Brightline train zips through Delray Beach at Atlantic Avenue. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Jane Smith
Pressure is mounting on the express passenger railroad Brightline to improve its safety efforts.
The rail service started Jan. 12 with free ri
By Jane Smith
The days are numbered for people taking shortcuts across the FEC train tracks in downtown Delray Beach. The city plans to install pedestrian barriers by the end of the summer.
In mid-January, the City Commission approved a pedestr
Brightline celebrates a construction milestone at the station in West Palm Beach.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Road work to wrap as Brightline comes
on board and airports upgrade
By Mary Hladky
If there’s one constant in South Florida, it’s the
