Virgin/Brightline: New South Florida stations could add millions of new trips

Virgin Trains, formerly known as Brightline, confirmed Friday it continues to target the opening of at least three new stations, including ones at PortMiami, Aventura and Boca Raton, sometime in 2020.

The goal, it said in a financial filing Friday, is to add as many as 2 million additional train trips a year to its South Florida express service.

For the month of August, the company said, it carried 74,312 passengers and generated revenues of approximately $1.5 million, bringing year-to-date totals to 639,373 passengers and $14.2 million in revenue. In its break-even projection for 2019, the company anticipated ridership of 1.4 million passengers and $56.3 million in revenue.

The company said daily trips by commuters and frequent riders reached an all‐time high in August, though it did not provide an exact figure. It said leisure ridership declined in concert with the softer travel market environment associated with the late summer season. Average fares for August were $15.93, compared with $15.83 for July.

The company said it had executed cross-promotion agreements with two cruise lines, and that it expects to add at least one more before the end of the year. It also said it will open a travel agent portal at MiamiCentral station this month to enable travel agents to sign up and book products and services directly.

Company representatives could not be reached for comment.

This story was originally published September 20, 2019 at 5:34 PM.