Brightline/Virgin Trains Explains Phase II, While Residents Complain

Work is underway on what's being called Phase II of Brightline's link between West Palm Beach and Orlando, but some who live in between showed up at a meeting in Jupiter Monday night in hopes of derailing it.

Among their concerns...the cost. One woman said "Stop using our tax dollars."

But Rusty Roberts, vice-president for government affairs with Virgin Trains, the upcoming name for Brightline, says they're not being used.

"These are not guaranteed by the taxpayers. So we are using private money, 100 percent private money to build this system."

He says the federally-authorized tax-exempt bonds being utilized to help fund the project are investor risk bonds that come at no risk to taxpayers.

But others voiced safety concerns about the trains that will will travel at speeds as high as 110 miles per hour.

"Thirty-one people have died. So my question is how do you sleep at night?"

That woman and others brought up the widely reported deaths on the tracks since Brightline began service, but Roberts says those were not the fault of the rail line.

"No incidents that we've had on our railroad has been as a result of some malfunctioning safety equipment."

In fact, police reports show that most of the accidents were caused by people trying to commit suicide or those in vehicles trying to beat a train.

Roberts says Phase 2 will be complete by the middle of 2022.

Click Here for more details on what the expansion will entail for areas between South Florida and Central Florida.

Photo: CBS 12


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