Brightline expects fewer passengers in 2024 after lower-than-projected ridership in 2023

Ananya Tiwari, Treasure Coast Newspapers
·2 min read
A northbound train arrives at the Brightline station in downtown West Palm Beach as the passenger service resumed between Miami and West Palm Beach Monday, November 8, 2021 after it was suspended in March 2020 because of the pandemic.

Brightline expects 21% fewer passengers this year than it previously had projected, after lower-than-expected ridership from September through December, according to the company's latest forecast.

The high-speed rail company expects 5.5 million passengers, including 2.8 million long-distance trips on the Miami-Orlando route and 2.7 million short-distance trips among the five South Florida stations, according to a December forecast.

That's down from the September forecast for 6.95 million passengers, including 3.5 million long-distance trips and 3.45 million short-distance trips.

Take a ride: Brightline train shows unique view of Treasure Coast

South Florida train stations

The new projections came after 2023 ridership was 27% lower than expected, with 2.05 million passengers instead of the 2.79 million passengers Brightline had projected:

  • Short-distance: 29% lower than expected, with 1.74 million passengers instead of 2.46 million

  • Long-distance: 9% lower than expected, with 306,131 passengers instead of 335,972

Short-distance ridership was steady from February-November 2022, but then it began a steady decline after August, around when the tourist season ends.

Brightline's 2023 ridership

With the Miami-Orlando route launching service on Sept. 22, Brightline's total ridership increased from September to December, just not as much as the company had projected:

  • 143,053 in September

  • 205,745 in October

  • 205,607 in November

  • 237,069 in December

The number of long-distance passengers alone was:

  • 17,578 in September

  • 79,686 in October

  • 93,184 in November

  • 115,683 in December

For the first time, the number of short- and long-distance passengers nearly matched in December, with the former trailing by only 5,703.

With a steady increase in ridership, Brightline projects 49% more passengers in 2025 than in 2024, with 8.2 million passengers, including 4.5 million long-distance and 3.7 million short-distance.

Ananya Tiwari is a business reporter for TCPalm. You can reach her via email at ananya.tiwari@tcpalm.com or follow her work on Facebook, Twitter, and MuckRack.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida train: Brightline lowers ridership projections for 2024