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Brightline taking steps to help prevent train collisions

By Alexa Lorenzo, WFTV.com
By Alexa Lorenzo, WFTV.com

ORLANDO, Fla. — High-speed Brightline trains have been involved in two deadly crashes in Florida within the last week.

Each incident happened in South Florida where the trains have been running since 2018.

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Brightline officials say there have been a total of 64 fatal crashes involving their trains since then.

With construction of the Orlando to Cocoa Brightline expansion set to be complete this year, they’re taking additional safety measures to keep the crashes to a minimum.

To start, they’re working on a $45 million trespassing and intrusion mitigation project.

“There’s certainly a number of things that we would implore the public to do first,” Brightline Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs Ben Porritt said. “Heed the safety warnings that are out there.”

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The Florida Department of Transportation has partnered with East Coast Railway and Brightline to request a federal grant that would cover half the cost of the mitigation project.

The stretch of the tracks running from Orlando International Airport to the city of Cocoa doesn’t have any traffic crossings so far.

There are 155 of them on the stretch from Cocoa to West Palm Beach.

Brightline already has plans to upgrade several of the crossings with seal corridors and quad-gates.

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If approved, the extra funding would also allow them to build other safety measures like raised pavement markers at crossings, fencing, and extra signs.

The safety improvements would apply to the entire Brightline corridor in Florida.

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