Michael Cegelis, Brightline’s executive vice president of rail infrastructure, said in a meeting that the Disney station would be taking priority, meaning work on the route’s construction is now set to begin in 2022, reports Tampa Bay Business Journal.
The rail line is now expected to be completed in 2025.
Brightline (which ended its brief relationship with Virgin USA in August) is also looking to collaborate with Orlando commuter line SunRail on portions of the Tampa extension, reports TBBJ. If the two come to an agreement, SunRail would gain the ability to reach Orlando International Airport via Brightline’s tracks.
The rail line would shorten the trip from Tampa to Orlando to about one hour, with round-trip tickets costing just over $70.
This news comes a month after Brightline and Tampa developer Darryl Shaw were in talks about the details of a station in Ybor City. The two entered a memorandum of understanding, which allows Brightline to conduct an environmental analysis of the area.
This story also appears in our sister paper Creative Loafing Tampa.
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This article appears in Oct 21-27, 2020.