Virgin Trains marks 1 million riders on South Florida route

Virgin Trains, formerly known as Brightline, last month marked serving 1 million riders on the passenger-rail service between Miami and West Palm Beach, with a stop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the railroad announced last week.

Riders used the South Florida service for business and leisure trips, Virgin Trains officials said in a press release.

Among corporate customers, the legal industry was most represented in terms of riders, followed by real estate, technology, hospitality and finance.

"This milestone shows the demand for new ways to travel and the need for greater connectivity in South Florida and other areas of the country," said Virgin Trains President Patrick Goddard. "While we’re still in the adoption phase, our inaugural year showed great promise and tremendous opportunity to reinvent passenger rail in America."

Virgin Trains officials also noted the service is having a "positive sustainable environmental and economic impact" on the communities it currently serves. From 2019 to 2019, 1 million rides translates to 400,000 fewer car trips on the road; a reduction of 15 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions; and 750,000 fewer gallons of fuel on the road.

In addition, each train passenger saved an average of 40 minutes by choosing to travel by rail instead of by highway, Virgin Trains officials estimated.

As Brightline, Virgin Trains initiated service in January 2018. Full service between all three stations launched in May 2018. Earlier this year, the company broke ground on a rail line that will link to Orlando.