ORLANDO, Fla. _ Although construction got underway last month, Virgin Trains held a ceremonial groundbreaking Monday at Orlando International Airport for its planned high-speed train between Orlando and South Florida.
The privately-owned passenger rail company, formerly known as Brightline, is starting 36 months of construction, fueled by more than $2.5 million in tax-exempt bonds, to extend train service north from West Palm Beach to Orlando's airport. Passenger service between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach began last year with the 67-mile trip lasting about 70 minutes.
The 39 miles of track is calibrated to minimize bumping or jarring, providing for a smooth ride when service begins in 2022.
The company estimated that the high-speed train route will remove 300 million cars from major Florida roadways on the route between Orlando and Miami.
"We will change the mobility in this state forever," said Patrick Goddard, president of Virgin Trains. "The most visited city in the world will now be connected to the cruise capital in the world."
Although the train's speed, which tops outs at 125 mph, won't be the fastest in the U.S., company officials said the traffic running parallel on State Road 528 will be "left in the dust."
Virgin's station at the airport was finished two years ago at the Intermodal Terminal Facility, a $221 million hub designed to accommodate multiple forms of shuttles and rail traffic, including a possible Central Florida's SunRail commuter system.
The phase two expansion project includes 170 miles of new track at the terminal, representing a total private investment of $4 billion, according to the rail company.
About 225 million pounds of American steel will be used and 2 million spikes and bolts will be hammered in place during the construction phase, which Goddard dubbed as "one of the most significant infrastructure projects in America today."
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who gave a shout out to the Virgin project at Monday morning's State of the City address, dashed to the airport for the groundbreaking ceremony.
The city had 75 million visitors last year and Dyer said he expects the numbers to significantly increase after the train route is completed.
"Certainly if you're going to be a future-ready city, you have to invest in transportation structure," Dyer said. "That's going to be a great connection for us."
At the end of the ceremony, local officials and company representatives donned hard hats and pounded a red spike, which released steam into the air, signaling the start of the "red spike era."
Virgin has also begun site clearing at the Orlando Airport for a 200,000-square-foot maintenance building to service the high-tech trains.
