Loyal readers may recall The Brightline experience (low-speed high-speed rail in Florida).
I recently took Brightline to Orlando. The West Palm Beach station is smaller than the one in Miami, but has better views.
The premium lounge is well-stocked with booze and food:
(Note cranes in background as West Palm Beach continues to be inflated with $billions.)
We hit 125 mph on the final stretch toward Orlando, the only completely new track on the route.
It’s not quite as comfortable as the Chinese high-speed rail, but there is much less jostling than on Amtrak Acela.
My meeting was for dinner at BACÁN, within the Lake Nona Wave Hotel.
The hotel is within a large business district that I had never heard of and that is the home of the Evil Empire (from a small airplane pilot’s point of view):
Would I take Brightline or Orlando again? It doesn’t make much sense for a family and takes longer than driving from Jupiter (partly because one has to drive south for 25 minutes to the station before heading north), but for a single traveler who will fly out of Orlando and then later return to a different airport it is awesome. It will make more sense if they can ever get a station built in Stuart, Florida, which is to our north.
Phil,
Great post and documentation. Care to explain the “Evil Empire” comment for those of us unfamiliar with aviation?
Signature sells fuel to private jets at the most desirable airports and they’re resented by owners of crummy piston planes for charging fees that seem high (though, in reality, I’m sure that Signature loses money on piston-powered planes!).
Fun fact, this supplier of dinosaur blood to Gulfstreams and other CO2 emitters is owned by climate change alarmist Bill Gates. See https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2021-06-08/signature-aviation-now-under-new-ownership
From Christmas, FL (near Orlando) a responsible mother:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2026/mar/06/week-in-wildlife-a-watchful-egret-a-sun-seeking-swan-and-a-procession-of-caterpillars?CMP=share_btn_url#img-6
Thanks for these nice images today Phil! The infrastructure looks clean and inviting, even the Signature death star building.
Brightline has agreed to build a station on Cocoa, FL if Cocoa can come up with a majority of the construction cost. (Near I-95 and 528.)
The more stations, the slower it gets.