Virgin Trains USA aims to bring a rail link to Walt Disney World

Apr 04, 2019 in "The Walt Disney Company"

Posted: Thursday April 4, 2019 5:02pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The Orlando Sentinel is today reporting that Virgin Trains plans to build a station at Walt Disney World as it begins work on a rail link from South Florida to Central Florida.

Virgin Trains president Patrick Goddard said that the service "would integrate with their transportation system, hotels and theme parks."

The service would also include a station at Orlando International Airport, which could see a rail service from Miami to Orlando and to the theme parks. The expected timeframe is 30 - 36 months.

Aiming to reinvent train travel in the United States, Virgin Trains USA is the express inter-city passenger rail service that currently connects Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, with plans to expand to Orlando and Tampa. The company, under direction of Sir Richard Branson, has raised nearly $1.8 billion in the last few weeks, enough to build the link to Orlando.

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HauntedPirateJul 24, 2024

I would if I were more frequently visiting the cities it services. But it is also another good bit of info to know, thanks!

DisoneJul 23, 2024

Sign up for brightline emails. Get notifications like this 1-day sale..... $29 fares galor. Must dates San's Fridays and Sundays

HauntedPirateJul 23, 2024

Good info, thanks! I'll tuck that away for future reference, since getting to certain places can be cumbersome. We rented a car in FLL (return at MCO). Not worth the hassle for us to fly or take the train when we need a car regardless.

deeevoJul 23, 2024

Look into Silver Airways. $79 for one way. I fly them from Tampa to Key West about once a year and love it.

RobbiemJul 23, 2024

It always amazes me how much more expensive the train usually is no matter where you are. Even in Japan its often cheaper to fly than take the shinkansen if you have a long journey. Its the same in Europe. It is a shame because train travel is usually nice but its not worth a large premium over other modes

HauntedPirateJul 13, 2024

I know. But the price for the 9-10am trains has been in excess of $140/person for at least 2 months. A Friday in mid-September. We needed a car anyway for all our post-cruise activities, the train pricing just means we get it at FLL instead of MCO.

C33MomJul 12, 2024

We just booked using the code @Tony the Tigger shared earlier this thread for our upcoming trip from Orlando to FLL for a Magic cruise. It would have been $396 without the coupon (there were a few horribly timed trains that were cheaper but most trains between 10AM and 5pm were even more) and with the code it was $198. Thanks again, Tony! 😀 We were willing to pay a little more to avoid the difficulty of driving but 3x the cost of a rental car was hard to justify.

TwirlnhurlJul 12, 2024

I just checked Waze. If someone was leaving downtown Miami at 5pm on Tuesday and was traveling to MCO terminal C, it would take 4:05 by car. Many companies in Orlando have office in Miami, and business meetings that end at 5 are very common. The train goes the same distance 30 minutes faster. If you live in South Florida, I think it depends on when you are leaving, how many are in your party, where are you going in Orlando, and whether you need to work on the way. I can totally see that math not working in Brightline favor for lots of trips. But Brightline only needs to capture some of those trips to be successful. Brightline recently announced their quarterly revenue numbers, and they are still spending more than they are earning (mostly on interest payments). This is concerning, and future interest rates are not very likely to alleviate the issue. But they are acting as though that was expected, and considering that they are performing approximately within expectations, I think they will make it to profitablity eventually. Orlando is growing rapidly. Miami is growing rapidly. Traffic is getting worse. And those bond payments are not going to get more expensive as inflation reduces the real value of the loans as they are repaid.

Rich BrownnJul 11, 2024

If prices go up. it's because there are less seats to sell (i.r., supply snd demand).

DisoneJul 11, 2024

Definitely not typical but yeah they do have some high prices sometimes. What date is this?

HauntedPirateJul 11, 2024

This is the current pricing for the day we get off a Disney cruise: The only tickets less than $149/person that day are the 9:25pm and 10:20pm trains. Absolutely bonkers.

DisneyCaneJul 11, 2024

More likely it is mostly people taking the train vs. driving. The people that fly south Florida to MCO are more likely out of state people who fly to different legs of their trip. If you live in South Florida flying to MCO makes very little sense. Door to door will take longer than driving or the train.

IanDLBZFJul 11, 2024

As you wish!

DisoneJul 11, 2024

Wow. Honestly that's not typical of their pricing. I did a quick search for a few days and I did find on Sunday they had a lot of $99 prices. But I had to find that. No promo code used. But honestly I don't think you're going to find in any scenario where it's cheaper for a family of four to take this versus rent a car. Same for airlines. Rent a car is going to win on price every single time. Plus the attic convenience of having a car in Orlando cannot be understated because Orlando does not have a great transportation system.