Brightline’s Modern Sleek Trainsets Roll Off The Assembly Line As Expansion To Orlando Continues Construction

Brightline has reached a new milestone in the expansion of their high-speed rail line from Miami to Orlando. The company has unveiled sleek new trainsets that will service the future route connecting south and central Florida, which just recently rolled off the assembly line at the Siemens Mobility Sacramento Manufacturing Plant. Featuring two stainless steel locomotives and four coach cars, a total of five trains are now on their way to West Palm Beach via freight trains, as construction continues on the highly anticipated route.

Train Front View. Courtesy of Brightline.

Brightline’s new trainsets were manufactured just south of Sacramento at a 60-acre Siemens Mobility factory site, bringing in components from 160 subsidiaries and suppliers from 27 states. The process to assemble the trains began with the sub-assembly process, where subcomponents are determined and ordered, followed by the development of the locomotive structure – made of high strength carbon steel. A stainless outer skin is welded in to the walls of the locomotive structure, blasted to clean up the metals, and painted.

Once the cars are structurally complete, other steps such as flooring, the installation of the exterior doors, windows and HVAC units come next. The trains are put through a series of highly pressurized water tests, to ensure tightness in the exterior components prior to installing any interiors. Upon passing the water tests, the assembly shop proceeds with the installation of brake racks, alternators and air compressors, undercar equipment and seating, etc, across both the coach cars and locomotives. Upon completion, the trainsets are prepped for the 2,500 mile cross country trip from Sacramento to South Florida.

BrightPink at West Palm Beach. Courtesy of Brightline.

Brightline’s Orlando station will be located in a newly constructed state-of-the-art Intermodal Terminal Facility at Orlando International Airport (MCO), connecting more than six million people between Central and South Florida. It’s vehicle maintenance facility will have the capability of servicing 16 trains daily, including a train wash – a 9,542-square-foot facility that can service 3 trains per hour, a biodiesel fuel farm and storage tracks the length of two football fields. At completion, the facility will be active 24/7, and willemploy 160 highly skilled engineers, conductors, technicians and inspectors.

Intermodal Terminal Facility at MCO. Courtesy of Brightline.

Construction is on-going along the routes between West Palm Beach and Orlando, where 60% of the tracks have been laid out and assembled, and a total of 56 bridges will have been built at completion. The 168-mile corridor includes 1.4 million square feet of retaining walls, 6 million cubic yards of embankment fill, 2.35 million tons of granite and limestone transported by 20,000 railcars, 450,000 concrete ties, 2 million spikes and bolts, and 225 million pounds of American recycled steel.

Bridge under construction over the I95. Courtesy of Brightline.

Crane Creek Bridge in Melbourne. Courtesy of Brightline.

Brightline Aventura Station. Courtesy of Brightine.

Brightline’s Boca Raton and Aventura stations are currently under construction and are projected to open in the second half of 2022. Additional stations at Disney Springs and Tampa are in the planning stages, which will further expand the routes deeper into the western perimeters of Central Flroida.

Brightline Boca Raton Station. Courtesy of Brightline.

“As the nation’s first and only private, operational high-speed rail line, Brightline’s partnership with Siemens demonstrates our company’s commitment to building both a robust domestic manufacturing sector and the future of green transportation,” said Michael Reininger, chief executive officer of Brightline Holdings. “Our partnership should serve as a powerful example of how we can break through the inertia and into an era of high-speed rail in America.”

Bright Blue. Courtesy of Brightline.

“Brightline is a pioneer in private rail investment in the United States and we are proud to continue to grow our partnership as we ship the latest trainsets to Florida ahead of Brightline’s expansion. The Venture trainsets are a result of our collaboration and will offer a comfortable and enjoyable passenger experience that was built in Sacramento,” stated Michael Cahill, President of Siemens Mobility Rolling Stock in North America.

BrightBlue Coming into Station. Courtesy of Brightline.

“The Siemens-Brightline partnership is a huge win for the state of California, bringing the future of green manufacturing and good paying jobs to our communities,” said Fiona Ma, California treasurer. “The completion of these trainsets is not only a big step towards developing high-speed rail in the U.S., but also proves that California is capable of achieving tangible progress on climate and creating new manufacturing jobs today—not years from now.”

Two trains at Platform. Image courtesy of Brightline.

Over the next 8 years, Brightline is estimating to add $6.4 billion of direct economic impact to Florida’s economy, and will run as the most eco-friendly diesel equipment in service in the United States. More than 2000 post-construction jobs will be added to the state.

Brightline has scheduled the resumption of its operations between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach for some time in November. Service to Orlando is expected to begin in 2023.

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