Brightline up-to-79 mph train testing kicks off along 13 miles near Rockledge, Cocoa
By 9 a.m. Wednesday, a Brightline train — four linked pink-and-white passenger cars flanked by two yellow locomotives — waited motionless on the tracks just south of Viera Boulevard.
Then the train started traversing a 13-mile rail corridor through the Rockledge and Cocoa areas, with plans to zip at speeds of up to 79 mph during the afternoon for a series of "signal and track cutover" test runs.
Brightline's 13-mile test corridor extends through 18 roadway crossings, leading northward from Ansin Road in Bonaventure to Camp Road in Sharpes. Flaggers will direct traffic at crossings while the test period lasts through 6 p.m. Saturday, as crews are also testing gates and traffic signals.
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"We're commissioning the track and also getting the signals timed. And so, we have the flaggers here — very important. They are making sure that traffic is stopped," Brightline spokesperson Katie Mitzner said, standing at a staging area near Dixon Boulevard and U.S. 1 in Cocoa.
"These flaggers are going to be out. They're going to be stopping traffic. So we just ask for everyone's patience. It's only going to take a matter of minutes for the train to pass through a crossing, from one end to the next. And then traffic can continue on their way," Mitzner said.
"So, keep safety front of mind. Never stop on the tracks. Don't drive around the gates. And only cross at a designated crossing."
Affected rail crossings during the up-to-79 mph testing period:
Sharpes
Camp Road, Canaveral Groves Boulevard.
City Point
Cross Road.
Cocoa
Cidco Road, Beau Geste Road, Michigan Avenue, Dixon Boulevard, West Highlands Drive, Peachtree Street, King Street (State Road 520), Rosa L. Jones Boulevard (Poinsetta Drive).
Rockledge
Barton Boulevard, Eyster Boulevard, Rinker Way, Gus Hipp Boulevard, Barnes Boulevard.
Bonaventure
Carver Road, Ansin Road.
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These up-to-79 mph test runs serve as a prelude to Brightline's 110 mph testing in Brevard, which Mitzner said may begin in January or February.
Engineers will conduct those 110 mph runs along three rail segments: one leading from Micco to Malabar; one leading through the Palm Bay-Melbourne area; and one leading through the Rockledge-Cocoa area.
Crews have now finished building 85% of Brightline's future rail corridor linking Orlando International Airport with South Florida, Mitzner said. The extensive construction campaign has involved 6.4 million manhours of labor, and more than 900 workers remain on the job.
Brightline expects to start carrying passengers next year.
The rail company is double-tracking the north-south Florida East Coast Railway corridor, which parallels U.S. 1, across Brevard from the St. Sebastian River northward into Cocoa. From there, trains will follow a new set of tracks paralleling State Road 528 westward to the Orlando airport.
Wednesday morning, a Brightline crew and media outlets assembled at a staging area at Dixon Boulevard and U.S. 1 before the train arrived — the train left West Palm Beach at roughly 3 a.m. Mitzner said engineers hoped to complete 10 Rockledge-Cocoa passes Wednesday at speeds up to 79 mph, along with additional slow-speed passes of 15 mph.
Brightline's up-to-79-mph train tests debuted in Brevard in July along a 9-mile stretch between Post Road in Melbourne and Barnes Boulevard in Rockledge.
Brightline to close Post Road crossing
Crews will close the railroad crossing at Post Road in Melbourne from 7 a.m. Thursday to 7 p.m. Nov. 15.
Signs will detour eastbound traffic south on Croton Road and east on Parkway Drive to reach U.S. 1.
The westbound traffic detour will lead south on U.S. 1, west on Parkway Drive, and north on Croton Road to reach Post Road.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brightline trains to speed up to 79 mph during Rockledge, Cocoa test runs
