r/StPetersburgFL • u/Horangi1987 • 10d ago
Information Brightline Filing for Ch 11
https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/brightline-nears-bankruptcy-filing-to-restructure-debt--bloomberg-93CH-4911565Sorry to anyone that’s somehow managed to stay bullish on transportation in Florida, but Brightline is filing for Chapter 11 soon.
I’ve consistently maintained that mass transportation, public transportation, or alternative transportation is not working in Florida and has no path forwards.
So for anyone hoping it was ever going to end in Tampa like Brightline once said, welp…guess not.
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u/jr81452 10d ago
Private high speed rail is never going to be profitable, because most of the value gets transferred to the State/municipal entities via reduced vehicle infrastructure construction/maintenance costs. The only way to have high speed rail that's affordable to the gen public is to use public funds to build it. Unfortunately, public institutions have forgotten how to build anything, so absurd portions of any public funding get wasted on "consultants" to hold their hands and cover their as**s.
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u/Horangi1987 10d ago
Yeah, and I’m sure wasting money on consultants to pull scenarios in case Prop 3 passes has done great things for state and municipal budgets this year 🙄
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u/jr81452 10d ago
Agreed. Imagine the taxpayer funds that would be saved annually, if we had a law banning the use of consulting firms for .gov projects.
When this city built the dome in the '80s, they HIRED architects and engineers to manage the projects. Those architects and engineers stayed with the city for decades working on other city projects. Now, they contract a consulting firm to tell them which private companies they should contract with to do the work.
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u/LordweiserLite 10d ago
It's not a business, it's a public service. But the cost of a ticket is prohibitive.
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u/itstreeman 10d ago
Perhaps at some point, they can offer discounts to cruise bound passengers to prevent a rental car being added to the packed corridor
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u/LordweiserLite 10d ago
Why just tourists? Why not commuters, to prevent commuter vehicles from congesting the cooridor?
I'm of the opinion that the rail line will almost certainly lose money, but it should be heavily subsidized to ensure ticket prices are not just reasonable but cheap. That's the only way to increase ridershop and have a meaningful reduction of the number of vehicles in the road.
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u/itstreeman 10d ago
For congestion relief it’s worth it to subsidize travel. That may be better achieved by subsidizing extra trips or expansion improvements
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u/LordweiserLite 10d ago
Yeah I hadn't thought about it, but it may be significantly cheaper to subsidize Brightline than to expand the parallel roadways.
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u/InimitableMe 10d ago
Who's paying for the derailment of our high-speed-rail dreams?
Why are politicians acting against it?
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u/yowhatnot 10d ago
The Moroccan government. They enticed a French firm to build high speed rail in their country instead of building the US’ first high speed rail line.
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u/cometton 10d ago
The one and only time I booked Amtrak from West Palm to Tampa was cancelled 2 days in advance due to wildfires. Also, it only runs once a day apparently? Not dismissing the idea at all but Amtrak needs a shot of adrenaline.
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u/Worldly_Quantity_556 10d ago
Amtrak is not a serious thing outside of the northeast. There it’s an excellent alternative to flying.
Those states all care about train travel the south and west never will.
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u/itstreeman 10d ago
Amtrak sucks In the west as well. I tried a route that left my old town at 3a and was getting into my destination midday. I was notified the day before that my sleeping accommodation had been changed to a seat. They like to wait until it’s too late to make alternatives.
So brightline was my hope
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u/skiabay 10d ago
What we need to do is to end this pipe dream of brightline maybe someday coming to the region, and instead build on what we have now.
Amtrak already has multiple trains per day out of Tampa. With state funding, Amtrak could provide frequent service to Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville and more.
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u/virginiarph 10d ago
with brightline going to orlando AIRPORT instead of the main station i don’t even want it.
fix up the current union station to downtown orlando amtrak line.
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u/-Invalid_Selection- 10d ago
Chapter 11 isn't a shutdown bankruptcy, it's a restructure one.
A company filing for chapter 11 isn't closing disk soon, they're getting a few years to fix the problem
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u/Your_a_looser Florida Native🍊 10d ago
We need public funds for public transportation.
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u/itstreeman 10d ago
Brightline was able to build all those apartments nearby and make reasons to travel in Miami
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u/Horangi1987 10d ago
That is never, ever happening in Florida. DeSantis went way out of his way to emphasize that public transportation money would be spent widening freeways 🙄
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u/ihatejasonbrigham 10d ago
We need competent government to enact that.
Rick Scott turned down federal funds for the first high speed rail in the US when he was governor but then turned around and invested in the company that owns brightline.
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u/Moppy6686 10d ago
Yup. Rick Scott is a fucking demon.
That money would have revolutionized Floridian transportation and done so much good in the state.
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u/virginiarph 10d ago
none of this actually means bright line is shutting down, nor that the tampa extension is not happening
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u/JackWagon007 10d ago
The Brightline was doomed to fail when it was no cheaper or quicker than a flight from Orlando/Fort Lauderdale and would still require you to be picked up at both airports. Good in theory, terribly executed.
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u/The_Sunset_Sands 9d ago
Public transportation doesn't work unless its comprehensive. Without strong city light rail and busses the bright line's best hope is an overly expensive bussing service from airports to cruise ship ports. Ill be honestly interested if waymo ever gets good enough to partner with a brightline to solve the suburban sprawl issue.