In a recent filing, Virgin Trains USA announced plans to reveal the locations of up to three more South Florida train stations by the end of 2019. Currently, it has stations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. While the filing did not specify where the stops would be located, Virgin Trains officials met with Hollywood, Florida in early July and has plans to meet with Boca Raton officials later this month.

This comes after Virgin Trains said in March that it was considering the Port of Miami and the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport as potential additional stops. Each of the stations would take 18 months to build and cost between $20 and $30 million apiece. It is unclear if those potential stations will be among those announced by the end of the year. It has also considered adding a stop in Aventura.

In the meantime, the construction for Virgin’s controversial Orlando-South Florida rail line, a 170-mile new rail connecting West Palm Beach with the Orlando International Airport, is ongoing. Since May 30, Virgin Trains has been working on Phase 2 for the expansion, which will involve the full scale construction of the new line by five contractors. Service is expected to begin in 2022.

Virgin’s Sub-par Safety Record

Florida has already been identified as one of the most dangerous states for rail crossing accidents and fatalities. In June, a report ranked Florida sixth among all states for number of railroad crossing accidents, citing the 462 reported rail crossing accidents that took place between 2014 and 2018. Virgin Trains, formerly called Brightline, has played a significant role in this poor safety ranking with its involvement in a number of fatalities:

• During the first week of Virgin operations, which began on Jan. 13, 2018, two pedestrians were killed in separate incidents after being struck by trains.
• Along the East Coast Railway (FEC), which runs from Miami to Jacksonville, Virgin passenger trains and FEC freight trains contributed to 76 fatalities from January 2015 to April 2018.
• On Jan. 1, 2019, a pedestrian was struck and thrown into a canal, becoming the 11th fatality associated with Virgin Trains in Florida.

While the development of new rail lines and stations is an exciting prospect for Floridians eager to switch to use convenient public transportation, it will be important for Virgin executives to continuously take action to prevent future tragedies from occurring.