COCOA, Fla. — Florida’s Brightline, the nation’s only privately operated long-distance rail service, is once again taking strides to add a station to the Space Coast near the intersection of US 1 and The Beachline in Cocoa.
Cocoa city leaders, who have spent years doggedly pursuing a station on the Miami-to-Orlando line, announced last month that they applied for a $57 million federal grant to construct the project.
It’s the second time the city has applied. The first was around the handoff from the Biden administration to the Trump administration, which sent all the groups back to the drawing board with a different set of requirements and expectations.
Cocoa city spokeswoman Samantha Senger said the city was more confident in its application this time around because additional boxes had been checked, and the new administration disqualified some of the competing projects.
“We are excited by the numbers,” she said. “We think that we’ve done a lot of research and a lot of studies to provide as backup support for the grant.”
According to the grant application, Brightline is projecting approximately 450,000 annual riders to and from the Cocoa station. The lion’s share of the riders – 350,000 – would be to and from Orlando.
That would be a needed 13% boost in annual ridership for the struggling rail service, which has seen its passenger counts and ticket revenues steadily increase, but far below the rate analysts say is needed for a viable operation.
S&P Analysts recently downgraded Brightline’s credit ratings again. In their March update, they said it was “virtually certain” the company would effectively default on its obligations to investors by September – earlier than their past projection of January 2027. The company has already skipped several interest payments on its bonds.
A default – or an accounting measure that S&P said would equate to one – would not stop the trains from running, but could be a precursor to the company’s restructuring or bankruptcy.
Brightline has already restructured its train schedule to cut service to and from Orlando, which accounts for a large share of both ticket revenue and costs. Many trains now run exclusively between Miami and West Palm to serve commuters, a turnaround from when the company discouraged commuter ticket sales as it tried to ramp up its Orlando operations. Florida residents make up more than 80% of Brightline’s riders.
The Cocoa project isn’t expected to cost Brightline anything and will be paid by local funds in addition to the grant, though the company will own and operate the station after completion.
Senger said the city has not discussed the future of its partnership with Brightline or the potential impacts on the chance of winning the grant if the company’s financial woes continue.
“We’re moving forward with the hopes that we would have a Brightline station in the City of Cocoa,” Senger said. “We are committed to the project and would like to see it come to fruition for sure.”
Brightline did not respond to a request for comment about the station or its financial situation. In its January investor update, it said it was selling equity in the company to boost its cash reserves and pay down some of its debt load.
The company has also continued pressing forward with an additional station in South Florida, an expansion to the Orange County tourism district and Tampa, and “Brightline West,” connecting Las Vegas to the Los Angeles metro area.
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