Heat84 Astyanax I would think running trains through it 32X a day at 65 MPH ought to do the trick. What about overnight? What if a homeless person happens to be sleeping when the trains start running?
MacLeech Heat84 Then they will sleep like the dead. I think the most people, homeless or not, quickly learn to not sleep in dangerous places (train tracks, roads, runways, etc.) if they want to live long.
Astyanax Heat84 Heat84 What about overnight? What if a homeless person happens to be sleeping when the trains start running? What about during the day at crossings? They have no qualms about standing in front of them when they see them coming.
Astyanax Brightline is having a garage sale. They’re still trying to keep the Ponzi scheme going too. That’s no way to run a railroad. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2025/12/29/brightline-seeks-to-raise-100-million-from-lenders-fort-lauderdale-garage-placed-up-for-sale/ ..and BTW: https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2025/12/30/brightline-related-death-of-75-year-old-reviewed-by-melbourne-police/87959351007/
Astyanax With default looming on over $1 Billion in debt, they sacked the CEO and got a European to run the railroad. https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2026/01/20/florida-commuter-rail-brightline-gets-new-ceo-amid-financial-problems/88212136007/
InternetJeff Astyanax With default looming on over $1 Billion in debt Past century choo-choo transit technology systems rarely pay for themselves without massive subsidies from non-users. Fares from paying ridership rarely covers the full cost. Some rail systems spend billions making little progress, laying very little track, so at least Brightline is among the least worst.
px_eliezer_ Astyanax With default looming on over $1 Billion in debt It takes hard work to build up that much debt….! Are they the Not-So-Bright Line ??
MetaPeace InternetJeff Past century choo-choo transit technology systems rarely pay for themselves without massive subsidies from non-users. Thats how stuff works. We all join together to share resources without the need to make a profit. A better world.
Astyanax px_eliezer_ It takes hard work to build up that much debt….! Are they the Not-So-Bright Line ?? They’ve basically been running the company like a Ponzi scheme. Whenever they burned through their cash they floated another bond issue. https://floridadaily.com/brightline-rail-faces-uncertain-financial-future/ This isn’t only a Florida issue. Not only do they have ambitions to connect Orlando to Tampa, they’re also trying to build an LA-Vegas route but that’s got more government funding. The Florida operations are 100% privately funded.
Genman px_eliezer_ It takes hard work to build up that much debt….! Not when operating a passenger railroad, they are money pits.
MacLeech MetaPeace There is a massive difference between needing subsidies and not making a profit. A company can bring in enough revenue from its customers without using subsidies to break even. That doesn’t mean profits are bad either. Profits drive innovation like the creation of railroads.
Astyanax MetaPeace Thats how stuff works. We all join together to share resources without the need to make a profit. A better world. Brightline isn’t “sharing” anything with my area; not a station or even bags for the bodies they leave behind.
Astyanax Darwin almost chose another local winner today but this time it wasn’t with Brightline. Notice the signage:
bennor Astyanax Is it me or did it look like that police officer was weezing and struggling to breath the second he got out of his vehicle and slowly, ever so slowly, walked over to the vehicle under the cross bar? Gotta wonder what the fitness standards were for that department. 🤣
Astyanax bennor Is it me or did it look like that police officer was weezing and struggling to breathe… If you read the comments that’s what almost all of them were about. Not the idiot who almost got plowed by the train. The cop only had to walk about 10-15 steps and he was having a pretty hard time. 😉
px_eliezer_ Astyanax The cop only had to walk about 10-15 steps and he was having a pretty hard time. I’m much older, heavy, out-of-shape, but I could have done it faster. As well what kind of idiot was the driver, he just didn’t seem to understand that he had to back up. The car behind him was giving him plenty of room.
bennor Astyanax Not the idiot who almost got plowed by the train. Guess we’ve become desensitized to idiot drivers. See them all the time. Now a police officer who appears to struggle getting out of his vehicle and walk 20 feet, that isn’t something you see every day. 😆
Astyanax px_eliezer_ I’m much older, heavy, out-of-shape, but I could have done it faster. I’m no model of healthy living myself but dayam I could’ve sprinted over there to help far better than that cop. Glad that driver wasn’t relying on his speed to save their life.