The pioneering passenger-train line that started up in south Florida early this year is getting a new investor and will soon have a new name.
Brightline and the United Kingdom’s Virgin Group are forming “a strategic partnership,” and the Brightline trains that now run between Miami and West Palm Beach, Fla. will soon be rebranded as Virgin Trains USA, the two companies jointly announced Friday.
Virgin Group will become a minority investor in All Aboard Florida, Brightline’s operator, whose management team will continue to oversee the service. All Aboard Florida will continue to have majority ownership by Fortress Investment Group.
“The partnership will allow Brightline to leverage Virgin’s industry-leading expertise and customer experience to establish a powerful new brand,” the announcement read in part.
Brightline began its service between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in January and extended it into Miami in May.
It is now working on an extension to Orlando and was the sole bidder when Florida recently sought applicants to establish fast trains between Orlando and Tampa.
Brightline has been cited by passenger-train advocates in Ohio and the Midwest as a model for service development in the region, where some corridors have grown but others have stagnated, depending on local and state political support.
Brightline also recently announced plans to acquire XpressWest, which has proposed high-speed passenger rail service between Las Vegas and southern California. That acquisition has yet to close and federal approvals are needed for construction there to begin, the company said.
“Our private-sector-led effort to reinvent passenger rail service in America is taking another leap forward with the addition of the Virgin team,” Wes Edens, chairman of Brightline and co-founder of Fortress, said in a prepared statement. “Virgin has built a respected and trusted brand in travel and hospitality. With our shared focus on customer experience, powered by a culture of innovation and disruption, we are well-positioned to build on our success.”
Virgin’s ventures include its 21-year operation of Virgin Trains in the U.K., following that nation’s privatization of its railroad network, and several airlines under the Virgin brand including Virgin America, which operated mainly in the western United States from 2007 to 2018 before being merged into Alaska Airlines.
Sir Richard Branson, Virgin’s founder, said his company has been looking for a beachhead in the American rail market and considers Brightline an “ideal partner for Virgin to work with to alter perceptions and traveling habits across the United States.”
First Published November 17, 2018, 3:19 a.m.
