What to Know
- The project is expected to cost between $3 and $4 billion and will create around 5,000 permanent jobs.
Residents and concerned citizens expressed their displeasure Monday with the second phase of plans for Brightline/Virgin Trains to link South Florida with the Orlando area.
Representatives from the company were in Jupiter for the meeting Monday to answer questions about the Phase II plan, which will link rail lines from West Palm Beach to the north – a plan many in the crowd oppose because of everything from noise concerns to closures as part of the project, which would require 18 bridges to be built between the major cities.
”They’re going to do whatever they want to do,” Paul Sinnott, who traveled from St. Lucie County for the meeting, told NBC affiliate WPTV. “That’s the bottom line. Whatever they’re able to do. We hope they are able to make it safer.”
The company said the project is expected to begin soon.
”No incidents that we’ve had on our railroad have been as a result of a malfunction of safety equipment,” said Rusty Roberts, vice-president for government affairs. “We’ve also utilized federally-authorized tax-exempt bonds to help fund the project -- they’re all investor risk bonds. They are no risk to the taxpayer. So, we are using 100 percent private money to build this system.”
The project is expected to cost between $3 and $4 billion and will create around 5,000 permanent jobs.
