Brightline train passing through Central Florida to get to West Palm Beach facility

ORLANDO, Fla. - After traveling 3,000 miles from Sacramento, Brightline's first Orlando train is making its way down to Central Florida from Jacksonville, headed to its West Palm Beach facility later this week.

"This is a chance now to connect cities that are too close to fly and too far to drive," said Katie Mitzner, a Brightline spokeswoman.

The project has been decades in the making, finally getting its first wheels to bridge the travel gap between central and South Florida.

Mitzner calls it carefree and car-free travel.

"We are looking at the ride from Orlando to Miami. From central to South Florida it will be about three hours and 15 minutes. This will be three hours and 15 minutes that you won't be sitting there in the car and be worried about what traffic you are going to hit or have to prepare ahead of time for a trip that should take three or four hours but may take much more," Mitzner said.

Brightline plans to open a train route between South Florida and Orlando by late 2022. (Photo from Brightline)

In South Florida, Brightline has stations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

Brightline is starting its services back up in a few weeks after being paused because of COVID.

Right now, the Orlando station is 60% complete and they hope to be ready to hit the tracks by the end of next year.

"When folks see this train coming through Brevard into Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin Counties into Palm Beach county, this is the next step forward as we make this a reality," Mitzner said.

It's a new way of travel, hitting roads across the United States.

"With trains like these we are taking a lot of carbon out of the air, a lot of cars off the road and this is happening across the country," said Michael Cahill, president of Siemens.

Mitzner says Brightline plans to start its passenger service in Orlando in early 2023.

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