Florida's beloved Brightline train has killed 180 people in eight years as locals ignore safety crossings

Daily Mail​

3 days ago

Florida 's beloved Brightline trains were revealed in a new investigation to have killed more than 180 people in just over eight years, leading to furious finger-pointing and calls for further safety measures around the notoriously deadly rail line.
The Sunshine State's icon trainline has been dubbed America's most dangerous railroad for reportedly killing one person on average every 13 days of service, according to a year-long investigation by the Miami Herald and WLRN.
A staggering 182 people have died and 99 were injured on the tracks since 2018, with another 101 collisions into vehicles mercifully ending without causalities.
Brightline officials have said the company has gone to great lengths to keep the public safe, pointing to the high level of suicides and drug-influenced incidents that critics have called 'victim blaming'.
'We have been a leader in the industry on safety initiatives related to education, enforcement and engineering,' Brightline Vice President of Operations Michael Lefevre said in a statement to the Herald.
'As a result of our focus, including our significant investment in safety infrastructure, none of the incidents along the railroad have been the result of train operations.'
The Herald, however, claimed the company's initiatives weren't substantial enough after Brightline extended their lines of service through Treasure Coast to Orlando, where 49 people died by train.
Brightline has faced legal pressure over the years in relation to the deaths along the railroad. But of at least a dozen lawsuits, none have reached trial and some were resolved in undisclosed settlements.
Lefevre noted that 'more than half' of the deaths along the tracks 'have been confirmed or suspected suicide.'
'All [deaths] have been the result of illegal, deliberate and oftentimes reckless behavior by people putting themselves in harm's way,' the statement continued.
Autopsy rulings reviewed by the outlet, however, reportedly suggest that a 'majority of the fatalities were accidents,' instead of suicides as Brightline have claimed.
'Of the 182 dead, 75 were ruled suicide by local medical examiners - or about 41%. In Broward County, where 61 people have died, 30% were ruled suicide,' the outlet reported.
Brightline's dangerous reputation has spurred controversy for years, and as the first few deaths occurred in 2018 the company faced backlash for 'victim blaming.'
In Brightline's first week of service, 51-year-old Jeffrey King had been struck and killed on a bicycle in Boynton Beach, making him the fourth death at the hands of the train line at the time.
US Rep. Brian Mast called the company out for it's public comments that people such as King had not payed attention to the safety warnings at crossings.
'Stop victim blaming and take responsibility for the fact that your trains are killing people,' Mast tweeted at the time. 'Trains should stop running until massive safety flaws are resolved.'
Yet, Brightline's president, Patrick Goddard, told a congressional committee in April 2018, that the people pointing figures at the trains safety 'choose to ignore the facts and the actual police reports surrounding these incidents, a common theme of bending information to suit their anti-progress narrative,' the Herald reported.
'Every person who has died on our railroad has either chose to end their lives or been under the influence of drugs,' he said at the time.
Out of six deaths at that point, two had been ruled suicide, and the remaining of the victims had tested positive for drugs.
King had marijuana in his system, but the Palm Beach County medical examiner's office told the Herald that it was impossible to know if it played a significant role in his death.
Brightline has claimed that the majority of accidents can be blamed on the careless attitudes of drivers and pedestrians along the railroad tracks.
However, the outlet also points out that local initiatives have contributed to the increasing death toll.
In parts of Southern Florida, train horns were silenced following local demands for 'quiet zones' and many cities have been tentative to close dangerous crossings.
The highest number of deaths were reported in Palm Beach County, Broward and Miami-Dade.
The high-speed train's installation came with fears that its presence would increase the dangers for some of the most densely populated areas of Florida.
Trains that travel at speeds more than 125 mph must adhere to mandatory safety measures, which means the tracks are required to be separated from roads and pedestrians with no traffic crossings.
Brightline's speeds only increase to these numbers in the final stretch of its service to Orlando, which opened in 2023, and is fenced off completely. Along this stretch, no one has died.
The trains speeds between Miami and West Palm Beach reach 79 mph and 110 mph further north to Cocoa, the Herald reported.
While safety fears have proved to have been substantiated, efforts to keep the public safe have been made by the railroad company despite their stance that the deaths resulted from reckless behavior.
'Brightline has invested hundreds of millions into modernizing the tracks and crossing systems and additional investment has been awarded. Since 2022, we've seen more than $70 million dollars of grants awarded for safety projects along our corridor,' Lefevre continued.
'Every time a person takes an illegal shortcut across the tracks or walks down the middle of the tracks, they are making a deliberate choice and putting themselves in a dangerous position.'
Pedestrians were found to be the most at-risk group, with 158 of the death toll made up of those on foot or bicycle, the Herald reported.
Around 60 percent of those who died weren't at crossings, according to federal data obtained by the outlet.
However in 2014, Frank Frey, a Federal Railroad Administration engineer, was a member of a team who walked the route of the prospective railroad line.
A report from Frey, obtained by the Herald, warned of trespassing, even then, being at an all time high. Frey urged the company to exercise increased safety efforts, including fending to direct pedestrians to crossings.
Frey also suggested the company add crossing-gate arms and median dividers to deter drivers from going around gates, the Herald reported.
'[T]hey are not exercising appropriate safety practices and reasonable care,' Frey wrote in the report.
Yet the company resisted making any changes. It argued against state bills in 2017, 2018 and 2020, which would require the company to pay for fending at popular trespassing shortcuts.
Rusty Roberts, a former company official, said the measures were ineffective, expensive and difficult to maintain, the Herald reported.
But, following a federal grant in 2022, Lefevre was one to declare the measures as 'common sense' that would have an 'immediate impact.'
'When done in the right area and with the proper length, fencing can be a benefit to channel pedestrians to the nearest crossing,' he said in a statement.
The terms of the grant would cost Brightline $10 million and federal and state governments $35 million for 33 miles of protective fencing and landscaping along the tracks, warning markings at crossings and 168 crisis-support signs for those who are suicidal.
However, Brightline trains continue to make headlines as incidents along the tracks lead to tragic consequences.
Maddie Brunelle, 18, died eight years ago after being struck by a Brightline train, and her mother, Amy Brunelle, continues to fret over the railroad that lies through Florida.
'What scares me is how much open track there is,' Brunelle told the Herald. 'And how close it is to public areas.'
Her daughter, who was bipolar and in a manic state, had walked out of a treatment facility and headed toward the tracks.
Brunelle was the first victim of the Brightline trains, and the area of her death remains unfenced.
Lefevre said in his statement to the Herald that each incident is 'tragic and avoidable.' Brightline did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment.