MIAMI — Brightline has been at the center of safety concerns since launching service about seven years ago.
Critics have gone so far as to dub it the “Fright Line” or the “Death Train.”
A new investigation is shedding more light and raising questions about the real reasons why.
A joint investigation by WLRN and the Miami Herald found that Brightline trains have killed 182 people since the rail line’s launch in 2018, making it the deadliest passenger railway in the country per mile.
The joint article, which is linked below, says reporters spent a year analyzing federal rail data, local medical examiner records, and police incident reports — finding, on average, there’s been roughly one death every two weeks of service. Of the 182 deaths, fewer than half were ruled suicides. The total was far more than previously reported.
“We have an issue in South Florida just because of the density of the number of crossings,” said Jim Kovalsky, President of the Florida East Coast Railway Society and a former firefighter. “Every crossing creates an exposure for the railroad. All of the population that has grown here built themselves around the railroad. All of the roads here came after the railroad, and the city and the state designed the crossings the way they are. The railroad has been the constant — not the change.”
Brightline has invested millions of dollars — including taxpayer funding — to add more safety measures, but investigators found that people continue to skirt safety gates, become distracted or ignore signs. Others reportedly suffered from medical episodes near the tracks.
Read the investigative reports:
Here is the complete statement from Brightline:
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