DECEMBER 2018/JANUARY 2019 | MassTransitmag.com | Mass Transit | 13
HIS YEAR, BRIGHTLINE
launched its fi rst services in
Florida between Miami, Fort
Lauderdale and West Palm
Beach. Brightline was announced
by Florida East Coast
Industries (FECI) in 2012.
Th e idea behind the line was to
build a passenger rail system in
highly populated cities that are
separated by distances that are
too long to drive, but too short
to fl y. Brightline is one of the
fi rst privately owned, operated
and maintained passenger rail
systems available in the U.S. in
more than 100 years.
Brightline currently operates
between Miami and West Palm
Beach, one of the most heavily traveled
and congested regions in the
U.S. Brightline has plans to expand
to Orlando and the Florida Department
of Transportation (FDOT)
recently announced it would enter
into negotiations with Brightline to
connect Orlando to Tampa. Brightline
and its parent company FECI
are also developing transit-oriented
development around the three
south Florida stations.
On May 19, 2018, Brightline
offi cially launched revenue service
into MiamiCentral. Th e announcement
drew crowds and
trains were sold out.
Creating the
optimal rail car
Siemens worked with Brightline
to create the railcars for the line.
Brightline ordered fi ve trainsets,
comprised of four passenger cars
and two locomotives.
“Th ese trainsets are comprised
of Siemens high-speed intercity
railcars, powered by Siemens diesel
electric Charger locomotive,”
Ray Ginnell, head of Passenger
Coaches for Siemens Mobility,
and a lead manager on the Brightline
project.
Siemens featured new technologies
within the railcars, including
important safety features.
“All carbodies incorporate
Crash Energy Management
(CEM) crumple zones to absorb
energy at both ends of the railcar,”
said Ginnell. “Our design also includes
a controlled collapse feature
to enhance safety in the event of
impact and has been fully tested
and is compliant with PRIIA
305-003 and FRA requirements.”
Siemens also included features
to make boarding and off -boarding
easy for riders.
“Th e ‘gap-fi ller’ was something
specially designed for this project
and something that provides true
level-boarding at all stations,”
explained Ginnell.
Not only does level-boarding
help with ADA compliance for
wheelchairs and walkers, but the
gap-fi ller also aides the smooth
boarding of bicycles, strollers and
rolling luggage.
Th e trains have dual locomotives,
a diesel-electric engine and
the train is 100 percent Buy America
compliant.
Passenger amenities
for a new style of train
As the project is one of the fi rst
of its kind in a century, Brightline
faced unique hurdles to overcome.
Brightline worked to enhance the
experience for riders. Th e passenger
rail line worked to cover every
base from its online booking system,
greeting riders at the station,
on-board service and announcing
a partnership with Lyft as Brightline’s
ride-share service.
“On this particular project, the
customer was focused on design
and passenger experience and
we had to work very closely with
the design-group Rockwell on
an extraordinary level of detail
surrounding seat comfort, sightlines,
materials, etc., all the while
ensuring compliance with the
T
SIEMENS
INCLUDED new
technologies
within the
railcars,
including
important
safety features,
such as CEM
crumple zones.
necessary safety and industry
standards and regulations,” said
Ginnell. “Few people will be able
to notice that there is perfect
alignment between seating and
windows, delivering better views
with larger windows and integrated
window shades.”
As the fi rst private passenger
train in the United States, leading
up to the launch, there was a
great interest in to what amenities
would be available.
“Th ese Brightline trainsets represent
the utmost in today’s passenger
experience: a high level of
comfort, state-of-the-art lighting,
low noise vestibules, large windows
for greater visibility and sophisticated
roof-mounted HVAC for all
seasons,” said Ginnell.
He listed additional passenger
comfort amentities includine wide
aisles that are fully accessible,
wider, comfortable hand-stitched
leather seats; in-seat reclining that
is less intrusive to the person seated
behing you, larger multitask
tray tables, enhanced WiFi for
better connection reliability and
USB/power outlets at every seat.
Along with the wide aisles,
and gap-fi ller, Siemens worked
to make the rest of the train fully
ADA-accessible.
“Th ere was also special attention
paid to the bathrooms – not
Photos by Brightline
/MassTransitmag.com