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Killer Train
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© WLRN 2026
Description
Brightline, the first private passenger train to open in the U.S. in more than a century, is hailed as a national model for the future of rail. Since 2018, Brightline has sold millions of train tickets in Florida, and now the company is expanding to the West Coast. A yearlong investigation from WLRN News and the Miami Herald uncovers a glaring dark side: Brightline remains the deadliest passenger train in the country by far. According to federal data, someone is killed on average once every 13 days of operation. While the company has claimed most deaths are suicides, in fact, the majority were found to be accidents or their causes were undetermined. And while it’s a private venture, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are being earmarked for Brightline projects. In Killer Train, our team of journalists offers the most comprehensive answer yet to the question: Why is Brightline so deadly?
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The future of Brightline may depend upon public dollars for safety upgrades, critical infrastructure and for keeping the company's struggling finances afloat.
Why are some railroad crossings more dangerous than others, according to federal data? Drivers who survived collisions with Brightline trains argue the infrastructure around the tracks put them in harm's way.
The tracks Brightline trains run on were already the deadliest stretch of railroad in the nation in the 1980s and 90s, according to federal data. Have local governments learned anything from that history?
Hear the stories of three people who lost their lives on the tracks, in the words of the loved ones they left behind.
Brightline hasn’t yet turned a profit — and it’s billions of dollars in debt.
Taxpayers are on the hook for hundreds of millions in costs related to Brightline, despite the company’s initial claims that the train would be fully funded by private investment.
Early on, the promise of a private passenger train connecting South Florida’s cities was tempered by the reality: People were dying on the tracks.
Florida’s Brightline has been hailed as a model for the future of U.S. rail. It’s also the deadliest passenger train in the country by far, according to federal data.
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omg you know confusion corner! I actually grew up in Fort Pierce a few miles north. I got stories about those towns. And the nightmare of waiting for that train to pass.