Choosing the best mode of transportation for a 240-mile trip can be challenging for travelers.
For example, a trip from Orlando, Fla., to Miami is about 240 miles and can take about 4 hours to drive by car.
A non-stop flight from Orlando to Miami can take about an hour and 15 minutes one-way in the air and cost as low as $59 one-way as of Sept. 26 on Southwest for flights a month from now at last check, but that doesn’t include all the taxes and fees that drive up the cost. And it doesn’t include all the time you need to spend in the airport checking in and going through security.
A Brightline high-speed rail trip from Orlando to Miami can cost as low as $79 one-way and takes about 3-1/2 hours on the train. Ridership has been rising for Brightline, but that isn’t enough to prevent the company from filing for bankruptcy.
Brightline Florida high-speed rail has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure its debt.Sandi Smolker / Getty Images
Brightline files for bankruptcy
Brightline, Florida’s high-speed private passenger train system, filed for a prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy to recapitalize its business with $490 million in post-petition financing through a restructuring support agreement reached with its financial stakeholders, including Assured Guaranty Inc. and an ad hoc group of mutual fund bondholders.
Debtor Brightline Management LLC, which employs about 520 workers who operate the only private intercity passenger train system in the U.S., filed its petition along with 16 other affiliates in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey on Sept. 25, listing $1 billion to $10 billion in assets and debts.
The Miami-based debtor’s largest unsecured creditors include Virgin Enterprises Limited, owed over $8.6 million; Ankura Intermediate Holdings LP, owed over $1.1 million; AFCO Premium Credit LLC, over $880,000; and Aon Risk Services Inc. of Florida, owed over $615,000.
Train service has 6 stations over 235 miles
Brightline Florida provides high-speed rail service along a 235-mile corridor in Florida with six stations located in Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and Orlando.
The company operates 36 one-way trains daily, which reach speeds of up to 125 miles per hour, which it believes is faster, safer, more eco-friendly, more reliable, less expensive, more productive, and more enjoyable than travel by car or air between Orlando and Miami, according to a bankruptcy declaration by Patrick Goddard, CEO of Brightline Florida.
“The trip between Orlando and Miami is ‘too long to drive, too short to fly,’ demonstrating the characteristics of other similar corridors globally that are served by intercity rail,” Goddard said in the declaration.
Brightline Florida, which built and owns its entire 235-mile rail system, began its train service in January 2018 between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Fla., and expanded service to Miami in May 2018. The rail system completed construction and opened its Orlando station in September 2023.
Ridership and revenue rising
The train system’s business has gained commercial momentum following the Orlando station opening, with ridership and revenue growing year over year. Its ridership increased by 14% year-over-year in 2026 through August and revenue increased by 17% in the same period.
Brightline filed its Chapter 11 case not because of its operating business, according to the declaration, but instead to address its holding company capital structure. While revenue and ridership continues to grow, results have materially lagged behind the company’s original projections and the reserves set aside to cover debt service through the ramp up were not sufficient to cover the slower ramp up.
The debtor faces substantial funded debt obligations with near-term maturities, interest payment deadlines, and mandatory tender obligations that placed unsustainable pressure on the company’s balance sheet, according to the declaration.
Seeks to rebalance debt, inject liquidity
Brightline seeks to rebalance its holding company funded debt obligations and inject additional liquidity into the company through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.
The company’s $4.39 billion in bond debt remains outstanding, with no plans to reduce the aggregate principal amounts, according to a Sept. 25 company statement.
“Brightline is a critical part of Florida’s transportation network that has changed the way people move around the state,” Goddard said in the statement. “Today’s agreement brings $490 million in new long-term capital to Brightline from the stakeholders who know this business, and it comes at a time of real momentum.”
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