MIAMI — Beginning this week, travelers commuting between West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and downtown Miami have more rush-hour frequencies to choose from.
Brightline, now officially known as Virgin Trains USA, on Wednesday supplemented its near-hourly weekday schedule with an additional southbound trip in the morning and northbound departure in the afternoon, upping weekday round-trips from 16 to 17.
Additional round-trips have also been added on weekends, bringing those totals to 10 on Saturday and 9 on Sunday.
Frequencies were ramped up in August, but the old schedule had hour-long gaps in peak periods. Now rush-hour patrons can board a train leaving West Palm Beach as early as 5 a.m. and then every half-hour from 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. southbound, with northbound trains out of Miami at 4:40 p.m., 5:10 p.m., and 5:40 p.m. The schedule also establishes Brightline’s first West Palm Beach northbound morning arrival at 7: 55 a.m. instead of 8:27 a.m.
“We believe the new schedule will work better for our current and future guests, and have already received positive feedback,” spokeswoman Ali Soule tells Trains News Wire.
The previous schedule was operated with only four of the five Brightline trainsets, with one always rotating out each day for maintenance. Now, all five trainsets are put into service every weekday, with the fourth one heading south from the West Palm Beach “Workshop b” maintenance facility in the morning and laying over all day at MiamiCentral until the extra 5:10 p.m. northbound train. The added dividend: a trainset ready on the south end to maintain schedules should a service disruption develop during the day.
