MIAMI – Two diesel-electric locomotives and four stainless steel coaches finished their cross-country journey from a Siemens plant in Sacramento to West Palm Beach Wednesday, according to Brightline Passenger Rail Service.
Hundreds of Siemens employees wore yellow T-shirts and held up a "Florida Bound!" sign to watch the train leave the factory last week. Brightline, a Florida East Coast Industries' All Aboard Florida higher-speed rail system.
"Building these train sets utilized the latest in modern manufacturing techniques, a vast supply chain and leveraged the best in Siemens engineering," Michael Cahill, president Siemens Rolling Stock, said in a statement the Lou Hammond Group distributed.
Not everyone was celebrating. Residents of Martin and Indian counties have a pending federal lawsuit in opposition to a deal between the U.S. Department of Transportation and All Aboard Florida to sell tax-exempt bonds to fund the Brightline project.
All Aboard Florida employees were expecting the blue train set to be in Miami about 9 p.m. The pink, red, orange and green train sets will be in Miami in March-April.
"We will begin the required testing as we ready to launch Brightline between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach next summer," Michael Reininger, president of Brightline, said in a statement.
