Brightline high speed train – Photo and Caption: Jillian Cain Photography/Shutterstock.com
We informed you last spring of Brightline’s intentions to add a new stop to its Florida train line. The city of Stuart, located on the state’s Treasure Coast about 40 miles north of West Palm Beach, would receive a station.
Brightline officials teamed up with local leaders in Stuart and the surrounding Martin County area to make the announcement in early March. The declared objective, back then? By the end of 2026, the station will be operational.
Those intentions appear to be in doubt nearly eight months after that announcement.
The station agreement collapses
A majority of the Stuart City Commission voted to withdraw from the agreement and revoked Brightline’s lease agreement for the future stop in September, putting a taxpayer-funded funding agreement between Brightline, county, and city officials to build the new station in jeopardy.
A group of Stuart residents and legislators had opposed the station deal, citing specific worries about the financial strain the funding arrangement would put on the community. Last month, one city commissioner told local publication TCPalm that while he wasn’t opposed to the station, he believed the current arrangement was unjust to taxpayers.
Nevertheless, the action has sparked a flurry of local political scheming and, in the end, rekindled interest in the potential location of Brightline’s second Florida station.
Brightline reacts
Immediately following Stuart’s reversal, a Brightline representative told TPG that the company was certain that local leaders’ recent actions “don’t reflect the wishes of the majority of business owners and residents who have supported Brightline’s efforts” to establish a station in the area.
Additionally, the firm seems to be open to exploring other options for its next Florida station, which would be located somewhere along the 170-mile section of track it opened between South Florida and the Orlando International Airport (MCO) terminals last year.
In late September, the business told TPG, “We’ll work with all cities and counties in the Treasure Coast to determine the next steps for a Brightline station.”
Will Fort Pierce follow?
No formal change of plans has been made by Brightline as of yet.
However, neighboring communities quickly resumed their attempts to court the rail operator.
“Fort Pierce is the obvious geographic location for a Treasure Coast station,” the mayor of that city, Linda Hudson, told TPG in recent weeks. She also stated that officials there would “welcome the opportunity” to add a Brightline station, regardless of whether the Stuart one goes forward or not, pending a “thorough look” into the rail operator’s financial situation.
“When we are sure that the Stuart/Martin County agreement with Brightline is no longer in effect, I am interested in opening a dialogue with Brightline to choose the best Fort Pierce location,” Hudson stated to TPG.
It’s important to note that Brightline had looked at a number of areas in the area, including nearby St. Lucie County, which includes Fort Pierce, before deciding on Stuart.
Don’t discount Stuart or Martin County just yet.
However, it’s possible that the Stuart station is still alive.
Leaders have rekindled discussions this month about a Brightline station close to—or possibly even at—its original Stuart location. When it comes to infrastructure projects, things get really complicated.
The city manager tells TPG that Stuart municipal officials have made it possible to explore a revised station arrangement. According to a spokeswoman, commissioners in Martin County, which includes Stuart, decided on Tuesday to proceed with station negotiations with or without the city’s support. One possible alternative location is at the county-owned fairgrounds, which are located south of Stuart.
The question is whether (or, more precisely, where) to install a station along the rails where Brightline trains currently thunder through the corridor every day.
What might happen to that station in the end? We’ll have to wait and see.
In any case, Brightline has much more ambitious goals. The business intends to eventually reach the Gulf Coast of Florida in addition to Orlando.
Additionally, work is also being done on a high-speed Brightline West system that will link Southern California and Las Vegas before the start of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
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Born and raised in South Florida, Krystal is a recent graduate from the University of Miami with professional writing experience at the collegiate and national news outlet levels. She’s a foodie who loves all things travel, the beach, & visiting new places throughout Florida.