Before I rode Brightline, I thought we needed a train stop on the Treasure Coast. After taking my first trip on the new high-speed passenger train service to the Orlando airport, I know we need one.
This is the way to travel.
Riding Brightline from West Palm Beach to Orlando and back in October, which took over two hours each way, was the second time I’ve ever taken a train.
I remembered riding Amtrak’s Downeaster for almost two hours from Wells, Maine, to Boston, Massachusetts. What struck me then were the views. As someone who loves driving and seeing the landscape, I saw a different view that can’t be seen from the roadways.
The best part of my Brightline ride was going through untouched natural preserved lands, especially Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, Savannas Preserve State Park in Jensen Beach and Port St. Lucie, and St. Sebastian River State Park.
“Incredible,” I couldn’t help but say aloud, looking out the window and seeing a landscape I thought I knew so well from a new perspective.
What’s it like to ride the Brightline train?
Just like an airplane flight, I was nervous the night before and the day of my trip, even though it was just to check out the service for work.
I rode “premium” or first class ($149) to Orlando and “smart” or coach ($89) back to West Palm Beach. I took the 9:03 a.m. northbound and the 11:54 a.m. southbound, and they ended up being the same train.
The main difference between premium and smart was the food, which was free for the former but not for the latter.
Each time I got on the train, I found my seat and showed my ticket on my phone. I had a fold-down tray table and lights overhead, but no seatbelts, and much bigger bathrooms than an airplane.
It even felt and looked like the inside of an airplane, but the ride wasn’t as smooth. I could hear rattling, and the train was slightly shaky. Still, it wasn’t enough to spill my coffee.
Soon after we left the West Palm Beach station, a cart came by with drinks and snacks. I had just stuffed my face in the premium lounge, and the attendant said she would come by again when the train passed through Port St. Lucie.
Then something unexpected happened.
I settled into my seat, staring out the window as the train picked up speed, and I got choked up. The reality of riding on these historic tracks through my native hometown hit me emotionally.
We started to pick up speed, and I recognized the vast scrub forest of Jonathan Dickinson from my time hiking and mountain biking the state park trails. It was beautiful. The landscape quickly changed to an old fishing village. I referred to the map on my phone and saw I was in Port Salerno.
I noticed the train slowed before curves, but not before busy intersections. I felt the brakes before it slowed over the Stuart train bridge. I felt like I was swaying as we crossed the St. Lucie River.
Every time we passed another train, I jumped in surprise at the horn.
The ride took me through unfamiliar and unseen parts of my hometown, behind the homes of Indian River Drive, sometimes with a view of the Indian River Lagoon. I couldn’t help but FaceTime my mom as we rode through Fort Pierce, and we shouted with glee at different landmarks: “Orange Avenue!” “South Bridge!” “Avenue D!” “North Bridge!”
The most interesting part was going through the Florida East Coast Railway railyard, since there’s no public access road through it.
After we left Vero Beach and passed the Roseland bridge over the St. Sebastian River, I expected the train to take off like a bullet, especially after we made it through the Space Coast. But, if Brightline did top 100 mph through the vacant swampland along State Road 528, I didn’t feel it. We slowly pulled into the new Terminal C at the Orlando International Airport.
The trip wasn’t without annoying passengers. One woman behind me had her phone read her a news article. One man had an entire conversation on speakerphone. Thankfully, each car designed for 60 passengers had only 10.
I sat by myself when I rode premium, but I had someone next to me when I rode smart. Ryan Cussen lives in Boca Raton, just a few minutes from a Brightline train station. He told me we could spread out in the car after we started moving.
As an account manager with ResMed, Cussen had a meeting to attend in Orlando. Instead of driving, he took the train the night before the meeting, got dinner and stayed in a hotel. After the meeting, he got on the train back to South Florida.
However, he’s not going to need to take the train more than once a quarter. Also, his work paid for the trip; otherwise, he said, it would have been too expensive.
After my trip, I looked at the Brightline map to see where I had traveled. It looked strange to have several stops in South Florida, but a long, empty stretch from West Palm Beach to Orlando. I remembered Amtrak’s Downeaster had several stops, but the train didn’t stop long at each.
After riding Brightline, it makes sense to have at least one or two more stops between West Palm Beach and Orlando. Geographically, they would fit on the Treasure Coast and close to Cocoa before the train makes a 90-degree turn.
Brightline CEO Michael Reininger told TCPalm a Treasure Coast station is the company’s next focus. A lawsuit settlement agreement has Brightline committed to building a station in either St. Lucie or Martin within the next five years.
I look forward to the day I can ride Brightline to and from the Treasure Coast — instead of just through it.
Laurie K. Blandfordis TCPalm’sentertainmentreporter and columnist dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Follow her on Twitter@TCPalmLaurieand Facebook@TCPalmLaurie.Email her atlaurie.blandford@tcpalm.com. Sign up for her What To Do in 772 weekly newsletter atprofile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage.
