Have you heard of South Florida’s new express commuter train called Brightline? It is a privately funded train line that runs between downtown Fort Lauderdale and downtown West Palm Beach. A non stop ride will only take 33 minutes. If you are like me and addicted to your phone, its a better option to take the train over driving as you can sit back and relax and do some work from your seat or even in the train station. The station offers free Wi-Fi as well as plenty of outlets to keep all your electronics fully charged. Each seat on the train has a power outlet and they offer free Wi-Fi with no passwords needed. Might I add that the Wi-Fi is actually very fast. Brightline will offer 10 daily round trips on weekdays and none on weekends, with the first train leaving as early as 6am and ending as late as 11pm. Pets and bicycles are allowed.
Brightline has not set a final fare rate. Introductory rate for a one way ticket cost $10 in the 66-seat Smart Coaches and $15 in its version of first class, which is way roomier and only has 50-seats. Seniors, active military and veterans get 10% discount. You can bring up to two bags per person for free up to 40 pounds.
Some might say that it would be easier to drive over taking the train. If you drove from Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach with zero traffic it might take you about 50 minutes but you can’t predict traffic some days. Brightline takes about 30 minutes with top speeds of 79mph and no stop and go. Each Brightline station will have parking. Parking is currently free, but final rates have not been announced.
We took the train round trip from Fort Lauderdale leaving at 9:25 a.m. to West Palm Beach returning at 5 p.m. and had a full day of fun activities just walking around. We started by walking around City Place and we toured the Culture Lab, which was only a 8 minute walk from the train station. We stopped into The Hilton West Palm Beach for mimosas right after. Following mimosas we walked across the street to the Restoration Hardware for lunch. If you are in the area, it’s definitely worth stopping in. On the 4th floor is the restaurant with a great view of West Palm Beach as well as Restoration Hardware, which is just FABULOUS! To finish our day we went into the Blind Monk for a drink before heading back to the train station.
Brightline will travel between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, with plans to add Miami soon and eventually Orlando. Which will make it so much easier for everyone to go to Disney!
* This post is sponsored by Brightline
Comments
Wait! This is awesome to know if I ever head down there. I am making a note Brightline for my next trip there!
I wish we had something like this near me! Brightline sounds like an amazing way to travel!
xo, Sara
Wish there was something like this near me! Sounds like a great way to travel!
xo, Laura
This sounds like such a great deal especially because traffic can be SO bad!
Brightline sounds great! I wish we had something like that around here.
These pics are so fab! I wish we had Brightline out here, sounds like an easy way to get places!
Oh wow this is so cool! I didn’t event know something like that existed.
Steph
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