Brightline to Open a New Station In Florida

On Tuesday, Brightline officials announced plans to build a station in Brevard County on land it owns in north Cocoa. This is the second station announced in the past month, with the other being in the city of Stuart. Elected officials spoke with excitement when talking about how frequent train service could transform their communities.

Cocoa City Manager Stockton Whitten told City Council Members that “this is as transformative a project as the city of Cocoa will ever see,” at a meeting to discuss appropriating $5 million for the design and construction of the station. The Cocoa City Council unanimously voted in favor of committing $5 million, which helped trigger Brightline’s commitment.  

Katie Mitzner, director of public affairs for Brightline, said the rail company “is ready to begin the formal process with Space Coast stakeholders to fulfill our vision for a Brevard County station. The Space Coast TPO [Transportation Planning Organization], Brevard County, city of Cocoa and other community leaders have started to bring the region together to identify potential federal, state and local resources for a station to be located in Cocoa. We agree the time is now to finalize a plan.”

Cocoa also plans to pursue federal and state funding to support the project, and a timeline for the planning and construction is still to be determined. 

Brightline is raising the bar for what many Americans expect from train service, and it’s exciting to see them continue to expand their trains to reach more people. Since Brightline launched between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, they have added three new stations, which include Aventura, Boca Raton and Orlando. Now there are two more stations being developed at Stuart and Cocoa, and an extension to Tampa is planned as well.

You can read more about what made Brightline successful and their plans for high-speed rail service from Las Vegas to Southern California.

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