AAF is now the "Brightline"

[thelakelander]

A privately owned and operated passenger rail service is on track to begin connecting travelers in four major Florida cities by mid-2017.

Today, All Aboard Florida is slated to reveal that the new express inter-city train travel service, which will cost more than $3 billion to build, will be called the Brightline.

Brightline trains will connect Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando along a 235-mile route. The stretch from Miami to Orlando will last three hours, comparable to what it takes to get to the airport, go through security and fly, developers say.

The trains, designed by the Rockwell Group, are being built in Sacramento by Siemens.

Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2015/11/09/florida-express-train-travel-miami-orlando/75179722/

[tufsu1]

got to be honest....not real excited about the name

[Ocklawaha]

Brightline is an All Aboard Florida Company. The parent company AAF did not go away or change its name.

If you want to lose all faith in the Florida citizenry, read the comments in the USA TODAY piece. "Communism", "Amtrak", "Subversive Plots", "Stealing from the citizens", and the classic; "It won't make money..." Are common themes. Crazy!

As for the name? I can't say I love it either, just another in a long series of gimmicky, abbreviated, modernistic blah... The all time classic Florida railroad name goes to a shortline operating about 2,000 feet of track in Pensacola in the early 1900's. "The Mexican, Gulf, Pacific and Pudget Sound Railroad!" Hey at least they had big ambitions.

[spuwho]

Interesting, because they registered the trademark "Bright Rail" earlier.

  http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php?topic=25340.0

[JeffreyS]

I like the name but with it being Florida "the sunshine state" I was rooting for "the solar express".

[spuwho]

I mentioned this to someone today and they suggested that perhaps the route between Orlando & Miami will get this name, sorta like the "Green Line" or "Red Line", in this case "Brightline".

Whereas a future route to Jacksonville would get a different name and color to differentiate the services.

Not sure that is the case here, but it was an interesting response.

[tpot]

I wonder what they would call the line if AAF would ever connect to Jacksonville.........lol.

[acme54321]

I wonder what they would call the line if AAF would ever connect to Jacksonville.........lol.

Blightline

[tufsu1]

^ all kidding aside, one of the old Jax-Mia routes was called the Orange Blossom

[L.P. Hovercraft]

I like the name but with it being Florida "the sunshine state" I was rooting for "the solar express".

Nice--that would have been good!

[iMarvin]

I like it; simple and easy to remember. I'm assuming every future route will carry the Brightline name.

[Ocklawaha]

^ all kidding aside, one of the old Jax-Mia routes was called the Orange Blossom

Not quite right. The name of the railroad line was the Seaboard Air Line Railroad
They operated a fleet of trains including:

Cotton Blossom: (Washington - Atlanta)

Gulf Wind: (Jacksonville - New Orleans)

New York-Florida Limited: (New York - Miami/St. Petersburg)

Palmland: (New York - Tampa/Miami/Boca Grande)

Silver Comet: (New York/Portsmouth - Birmingham)

Silver Meteor: (New York - Miami/St. Petersburg/Venice/Fort Meyers)

Silver Star: (New York - Miami/St. Petersburg/Venice/Boca Grande)

Sunland: (Washington/Portsmouth - Miami/Venice)

Suwanee River Special: (Cincinnati - Florida)

Tidewater:  (Raleigh/Norlina, North Carolina - Portsmouth, Virginia)

Sun Queen: (New York - Miami)

And for many years the flagship train of the railroads daily arrivals was the:

Orange Blossom Special: (New York - Miami)

[tufsu1]

^ sorry I was referring to the Orange Blossom Special...just subtracted the last word