(Photo credit: Curtis Childs)
Brightline — the nation’s only privately owned, operated and maintained passenger rail service — and its local partners announced on Apr. 11 added safety initiatives prior to the introduction of increased passenger rail service in Miami-Dade County.
The announcement came at a press conference in collaboration with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Miami-Dade County, City of Miami, Florida East Coast Railway, South Florida Regional Transportation (SFRTA) and Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
With two active rail corridors in South Florida, Brightline and its partners are working together to educate the public about active railroad tracks and asking citizens to heed crossing signals. Brightline also outlined plans for safety awareness that will include new Public Service Announcement (PSA) concepts with the Miami HEAT, and safety ambassadors and detail police officers and increased Vehicle Message Signs at grade crossings.
Starting immediately, Brightline will begin crew testing on the FEC Railway/Brightline corridor between Fort Lauderdale and Downtown Miami. Simulated service, or testing without ticketed guests, will begin shortly thereafter.
“The extension of Brightline to downtown Miami will be a game changer for the region’s transportation network, and the testing of this new service will coincide with the continuation of our aggressive safety campaign,” said Patrick Goddard, Brightline’s president and chief operating officer. “We continue to go above and beyond with our outreach and education efforts and thank our federal and local leaders for helping us amplify this message. It’s important the public follows the laws around railroads.”
The event was attended by key leaders, including FRA acting deputy administrator Juan D. Reyes III, State Rep. Roy Hardemon, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Miami-Dade County Commission chair Esteban L. Bovo Jr., Miami-Dade County Commission vice chair Audrey Edmondson, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Sally Heyman, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, Miami-Dade County Public School director of facilities Jaime Torrens, Miami-Dade County Police director Juan Perez and City of Miami Chief of Police Jorge Colina.
“We cannot stress enough how important it is that pedestrians and drivers exercise extreme care and caution around the train tracks,” Mayor Gimenez said. “This is a call to the entire community to learn and follow the safety rules, and to make it a habit to make safe choices.”
Mayor Francis Suarez added, “Miami will now be even more interconnected with our South Florida region. As Brightline rolls out its fast and reliable service, we are taking proactive steps to ensure public safety. I look forward to seeing Brightline in Miami and how our residents will benefit from this alternative to car travel.”
As part of its expanded outreach plan that began in early 2017, Brightline will continue working with Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit public safety education and awareness organization dedicated to reducing accidents near railroad tracks. Brightline has already started its aggressive outreach campaign, including:
• Placing Variable Message Signs at high traffic crossings between Fort Lauderdale and Miami;
• Placing PSAs on Creole radio, English and Spanish broadcast and radio channels;
• Deploying safety ambassadors to railroad-roadway crossings to educate drivers and pedestrians about rail safety;
• Hosting trainings for local first responders;
• Distributing more than 12,000 pieces of literature to schools along the FEC Railway/Brightline corridor, and
• Training Brightline team members as Operation Lifesaver volunteers.
For more information on Brightline, visit www.GoBrightline.com. For Brightline’s tri-lingual safety materials (available in English, Spanish and Creole), visit www.GoBrightline.com/safety.
Brightline is the new benchmark for travel by train in America with express inter-city passenger rail service connecting Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, with future service to Orlando. For more information, visit www.gobrightline.com.
